With Death We Met
by DarkUnderworld
Summary: Raphael fights and falls, but he didn't fall alone. Who is she and why does Hell want her dead? The Apocalypse is coming, but more importantly who does she love? Raph,Leo,Don,Mikey? OC with all the boys. Rated M for lang&violence&adult themes. final ch up
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

She let out a breath as she took a slight rest. The blood dripped slowly from her sword. "What are you doing here?" She asked the creature in front of her.

It roared in anger. She watched as it curled through the air, its thirty foot length restricted in the cramped space. Its long serpentine body coiled, its dog-like head let out another roar. Cat-like claws flexed in anticipation of an attack. "Hmmm I see, well then, I still insist you tell me what you are doing here, and perhaps you could give me the name of your Master, that would be ever so helpful." She said sweetly as she dodged razor sharp claws.

"AAARRRGGHHH!" Raphael shouted as he threw his sais at the training dummy in front of him. "I am so bored! With the shredder gone there isn't anything to do in this joint!"

Leonardo looked up from the book he was reading. "Raphael, you know Master Splinter wished for us to take this time to relax, train and recover from our battle with the Shredder."

"Yeah, more like he didn't want us getting into any trouble while he was gone." Raphael said bitterly. "I still don't see why he had to go back to Japan so soon after we came back."

"Raph we have been over this. Now that the Ancient One has joined the Tribunal someone has to fill in as Master until a new Ancient One is found." Leonardo replied, his attention returning to the book.

Sensors began to blare. "Donny please tell me I get to bust some heads." Raphael pleaded as he jumped up to where Donatello was working on some new invention. Donatello slid his chair over to the bank of security monitors.

"Sorry Raph, looks like it's probably some sort of animal or something. I'm not seeing anything on the screen." Donatello said as he slid himself back to his work.

"Typical, just typical!" Raphael raged as he kicked one of Donatello's machines.

"Hey, watch what you're kicking Raph!"

Leonardo looked at Raphael. "You had better go check it out, blow off some steam before you break something."

"Finally, even if it is some tiny animal, at least it will get me out of this place." Raphael growled as he stalked out of the lair.

Donatello had equipped the new lair with top notch security. He wondered what it was that could have broken through. Even if it was something small like a rat, there were some serious security measures put in place. He walked down the tunnel that led to one of the few emergency exits out of the lair. The tunnel would hit a buried underground chamber that looked like a building that had sunk into the ground. It was made of crumbling brick about two stories high. Most of the second floor had collapsed and there was part of a staircase left, but most of it was gone. Donatello had reinforced the sections of the building that looked to be unstable, but had left the structure intact. Past the building was a short tunnel that led to the forest that surrounded the new lair. Donatello had installed cameras, sensors and an entrance that looked like a bricked up sewer opening.

Raphael emerged into the sunken building and stopped. "Donny you really have to get those cameras fixed." The serpentine creature that was coiled near the top of the building was right in front of some discreetly placed cameras. There was no way that they could have missed the thing that had its claws dug into the ceiling.

Raphael followed the monster's gaze and saw a woman standing on what was left of the second floor. She seemed to be talking to it, but he couldn't seem to understand what she was saying. She held a sword in each hand, a black cloak swirled around her, the hood obscured his view of her head and face.

Raphael couldn't make out anything else as the woman moved dodging the monster's attack.

Raphael scanned for a way to get up to where the battle was happening. He looked over to where the crumbling staircase made its way around the far wall. From there he would be able to make his way to where the woman was.

The monster seemed to have her cornered. Her foot slipped as a crumbling piece of stone cracked, falling to the ground below. She recovered quickly, looking over her shoulder she stopped, and looked at him. All he could see of her face were dark pink lips contrasted against skin so pale it looked carved from the purest piece of white marble.

The monster, seeing an opening, reacted to her distraction, claws swiping at her defenceless midsection. She managed to dodge out of the way but the claws hit her shoulder. She screamed as her sword was knocked from her hand. "Hey big and ugly, why don't you pick on someone your own size and leave the lady alone." Raphael said as he charged towards the crumbling stone staircase.

"Dunai!" The woman screamed. _Run!_ The word ripped through his head.

Raphael made it two steps before the creature that had been crawling on the roof moved. He didn't even see it coming. One minute it was crouched on the roof the next it was right in front of him, claws slashing him from shoulder to thigh. Razor sharp claws ripped through soft flesh and hard shell, tearing internal organs to shreds. Raphael realized a moments pain, and then his world went black.

She watched as the Kappa fell. The Syna cut him down where he stood. The Syna's poison was already working its way through her system, but something felt different about it, her body wasn't treating the poison as it normally did. "Dunta!" She swore.

The Syna coiled up from its kill, she scowled at it. "You should not have done that. He is one of mine, and I will not let any who touch what is mine live." She looked again at the body of the fallen Kappa, she had to buy herself a few minutes before a Reaper collected its soul. Besides the Reaper she had to worry about timing. She only had 13 minutes from the first strike of death.

She muttered an incantation under her breath. "Water's Hatred!" She screamed as ice flowed around her hand. She threw the blast of ice at the advancing Syna, encasing the creature completely in Ice.

She had lost _Cuthach Fuilteach_, but she called it back to its scabbard as she leapt from the crumbling stone of the second floor of the building. She hit the ground and ran towards the fallen Kappa. She only had a few minutes until the ice that encased the Syna cracked and it would be free, but a few minutes was all she needed. She reached the Kappa's side and did a quick once-over. He was dead, torn from shoulder to thigh. Inspecting the wounds she realized that she would need more than a few minutes. The damage that the Syna had inflicted was massive. _Dunta! _She thought to herself. She needed time! She brought the sword she still had in her hand up. Grabbing the grip firmly with both hands she plunged _Morte Morosus_ through his heart. No blood appeared as the blade went through shell and hard tissue. She noted as she did this that he, for she surmised that he was male, was not a Kappa as she had originally thought, but some sort of giant Kame. But underneath the smell of blood and death she could smell the distinct whiff of what made him one of hers.

She looked over his wounds again and despaired at being able to heal the damage and resurrect him before either the 13 minutes counted down, or the Syna broke from its icy cage. Also there would be a Reaper hanging around and she didn't want to have to deal with it.

She huffed out her frustration and watched as her breath crystallized with cold. Glancing over her shoulder she saw Death standing in the corner. His grey wings rustled in a slight breeze, faded black robes moving around yellow aged bone. His bony hand clasped his Scythe, while timeless empty sockets watched her from beneath his hooded cloak. Death himself had come for the Kame's soul.

"You shall not have him." She whispered as she began weaving a spell that would allow her to save the Kame.

Death knelt behind her. A voice that sounded like the low gong of a cemetery bell spoke inside her head.

_A death happens in this place, at this time_

"_A_ death, not specifically _his_ death.

Death was silent.

She relaxed slightly as she continued to work her spell. Death was talking with her within his time, the 13th Hour. The time where no time existed. As long as she remained suspended within this hour she couldn't act upon the Kame, but she would be able to continue to weave the spell, so that when the 13th Hour broke it would be ready.

As she pulled her magic she realized it was not coming to her as it should. It was sluggish, hard to pull and weave. She looked to the wound on her shoulder which should have healed already and found it to still be there. She cursed, this was not a good sign. She pulled faster.

"I vote for the death at this time in this place to be big, and scaly over there." She looked back over at Death as he watched her silently.

_You have managed to take many a soul from my hand_

"True, but look at it this way, I make your life...or I guess existence, interesting." She said with a smile.

Death watched her intently.

_ You have even managed to avoid my cold embrace_

"Also true, not by my own choosing you remember. I quite welcomed your embrace, which for reference isn't cold, bony yes, cold, no. The only thing cold about you is the crossing into your domain, just the crossing though, your domain itself is quite a nice temperature." She paused in thought. "Why are you helping me anyway?" She asked curiously.

_I am not helping, that would be against the Rules._

"Yes it would." She looked at the Kame again. "I need your name." She said to the Kame. "Why did you go and have to die before you introduced yourself." She looked at Death speculatively . "But really what fun is it to obey the Rules?

_Your decided lack of adherence to the Rules_ _is going to get you in trouble one day_

"One day, but not today." She slowly reached out to Death her hand going beneath his robes.

_That is against the Rules_

"So many Rules to break, so little time." She said with a sly smile. She pulled the two Life Glasses from beneath his robes. Death only tried to stop her as she pulled the second Life Glass from beneath his robes..

"I see you have my Life Glass with you, and I know, also against the Rules to look at my own Life Glass." She said as she lifted it away from his reach. She studied her Life Glass then gave it back. "I always wondered what my Life Glass would look like. I guess it makes sense." She said as she glanced at the name engraved on the plate on the base. "RAPHAEL" She read. "No last name." She looked at the Kame. "Were you named after the artist or the Archangel?" She speculated to herself. She gave the Life Glass back and Death stood, tucking it back into his robes.

_I do not believe you will make our chess game _

She took in a deep breath, the spell was ready to go, with a slight caveat. "Alright Raphael, this is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you, let's just hope I can manage to survive this."

The 13th Hour broke, she placed her hands on his chest, blood ran down her arm, mingling with the blood of the Kame. Shoving the spell hard into his body his wounds closed instantly, leaving only vicious scars in their place. She looked at the scars confused, they shouldn't still be there. Ice cracked behind her as the Syna broke through. Leaving the puzzle of the scars till later she grabbed the grip of the sword that was keeping the Kame's soul pinned to his body and incanted the spell.

Spikes ripped through her chest as the Syna struck her with its tail. Her blood sprayed as the Syna pulled its tail from her body. Shock and pain threatened to break her concentration. Black spots flooded her vision as she tried to focus through the pain. She didn't move, blood ran down the glowing gore stained blade of the sword. "Resurrection!" She shouted as the spell vibrated through the sword, "Raphael!" She screamed, binding his soul back to his body. She willed her heart to beat, she needed her heart to beat even though it was now badly damaged. For her heart beat began his heart beat, her breath began his breath. His chest heaved. She pulled the sword from his body and dodged the gnashing teeth that whipped past her. She twirled, sword moving faster than the eye could even perceive, the Syna's head hit the ground, its blood spraying. She deftly avoided the spray of the creature's blood.

She sheathed her blade and stumbled over to the Kame. She dropped to her knees, gently patting him on the cheek.

Raphael groaned as he regained consciousness. "What happened?" he asked in a slightly slurred voice.

"Raphael listen to me. I am sorry about your scars, I don't know why...,I managed to bring you back, but I didn't have the time to heal you properly. I had to take your injuries upon myself." The woman who had been on the battling the monster said to him. He noticed that she seemed to be speaking in a different language, but he understood her. The words seemed to bypass his ears and instead whisper fully understood within his mind. She was kneeling over him, the hood still obscured her face.

"Who are you?" He asked, "And how do you know my name?" He said as he looked at the scars that ran through his body. He looked to her and noticed that she was badly injured. Most of her body was covered by the cloak she wore, and he noticed that the cloak seemed to be double layered a black leather one under a black cloth one. But he could see the blood running down her pale arms. A puddle of blood was forming beneath her. He wondered how she was even still moving and talking.

"Listen I don't have much time. The Syna is dead, you are safe, do you understand?" She asked as she winced in pain. "Raphael, you are safe, please rest." She took a breath and braced herself as four glowing blue vertical marks appeared on her body mirroring his own. They blazed brightly then cut spraying blood everywhere. Her eyes went blank as she fell to the floor. He reacted in horror as she was cut down in front of him. He managed to crawl to her, pulling her across to him. He propped himself up against a piece of broken wall. She lay cradled in his arms like a broken doll. He needed to get help, he needed to find someone who could help her. But her last words reverberated through his mind, his eyes closed and he sunk back into unconsciousness.

Death looked at the bloody scene before him. The death of the Syna would count as the death that was supposed to happen, but he would collect no soul at this time. The Syna's soul floated out of its body and disappeared. Death did not deal with the souls of such creatures. He looked down at the bodies at his feet. He pulled her hour glass from beneath his robes and studied it. After 4000 years of the sand in her hour glass remaining frozen in time, it now flowed gathering in a pile at the bottom. He tucked her hour glass back where he had held it since the day she had slipped through his grasp. He looked down at her body, knelt and gingerly removed her from the turtle's embrace. He was not really interfering, not really, he was just moving her to a place where mortals had less of a chance of finding her.

He hid her body behind some fallen rubble, stood and observed the blood that now coated his hands. This was a new experience for him. For as many deaths as he had seen, he never interacted with any on the mortal level, only through the 13th Hour, and in general he didn't interact with many of her kind.

Death took one more look at her fallen body and felt _something. _He turned, and walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Authors note: I don't own TMNT or any of its characters, all original characters are mine=)

Leonardo looked up from his reading and realized that the lair had been silent for quite awhile. "Hey Donny, has Raph made it back yet?" He asked.

Donatello lifted a his welding masked and glanced at Leonardo. "I haven't seen him."

Michelangelo walked into the living room and looked around. "He's probably blowing off some steam somewhere outside." He said as he walked over to the fridge, opened the door and began rummaging for food.

Leonardo looked over to where their vehicles were parked. All were in their place. "On foot?" Leonardo asked.

Both Michelangelo and Donatello shrugged.

"I'm going to go check on him, Mikey you're with me, Donny check the camera's and tell us what you see."

Leonardo turned to leave when Donatello's voice stopped him. "That's strange." He said as he brought up the camera footage. "It's like something has interfered with the camera's signal. All of the camera images are really grainy. I can make out a little bit but." He shook his head. "I'm going to rewind the recording and see if I can catch an earlier image. The cameras were all working fine when Raph went to check out the sensor trip."

Leonardo began feeling uneasy. "Finally, okay here is a section of the recording where the image...is...clear..." Donatello's voice stopped as he watched the image on the tape. "Raph." He choked on the name, turning his head from the screen, as if the image were to unbearable to see.

Leonardo leapt over the rail that led to Donatello's work area that was set up in the living room, and looked at the screen. Michelangelo put down his slice of uneaten pizza and walked over to the monitor. "What is it Donny?" Leonardo asked fear slipping down his spine. Donatello looked away from the screen as he rewound the image. He pressed play and let the gruesome image play out.

The image showed Raphael sneaking up behind a piece of crumbled wall. He was looking at something off screen. He walked out and began speaking to someone off screen. Then there was a shadow, something black and insubstantial streaking past him so fast the camera could barley catch the movement, and then blood sprayed from horrific wounds. Raphael slumped to the ground. Leonardo stopped the image. There lay his brother in a pool of his own blood. Cut down by something the camera could not even capture. All three brothers were silent. The image would be etched into their memories forever. "How long ago was this image taken" He asked in a steady voice.

"Five minutes ago." Dobnatello said in a strained voice.

"He could still be alive." Michelangelo said in a whisper. "You know Raph, he's too stubborn to die." He said with false cheer.

"You're right Mikey, he needs our help." Leonardo said gathering up the remains of his sanity and holding tightly to the thought. As long as he believed that Raphael was alive, he would be able to put one foot in front of the other and collect his brother, one way or the other.

The three brothers silently gathered up their weapons and headed to where their brother lay in a pool if his own blood.

They silently entered the chamber. Every instinct that Leonardo possessed urged him to rush in and get his brother, but he shoved those instincts away. The last thing he wanted was for him to lead his other brothers to their death. The chamber was silent, nothing stirred. Leonardo motioned for his brothers to take the left as he slowly moved to the right.

"Leo, over here!" Donatello yelled.

Leonardo took in Donatello's relaxed position and rushed over. As he reached them his eyes took in what it was his brothers had found. A giant carcass lay on the ground blood still oozed from its severed neck.

"It almost looks like a dragon." Donatello observed. He knelt down by its clawed blood soaked hands. "I think this is what got..." He didn't finish his sentence, he didn't need to.

"So if this thing got Raph, what got it?" Michelangelo asked. His eyes darted around.

"Let's find Raph." Leonardo said in a determined voice.

Donatello still knelt by the monster's body. "Hey Leo," He said looking at something on the floor. "Whatever you do, don't step in this things blood. I think it may be acidic. Where the blood has fallen it appears to have eaten right through."

Donatello stood and looked around. "There's its head." He said walking over to where the head lay.

"I don't care about that...monster, find Raph!" Leonardo screamed at his brother.

"Guys!" Michelangelo yelled.

Both brothers ran to where Mikey was standing on the other side of the severed head. Leo stopped dead at the sight before him. He took one step then fell to his knees. Raphael was leaning against a piece of fallen wall, head tilted slightly to the side. Leonardo would have thought he was just sleeping if not for the blood pooled on and around him.

"Raphael, you hot-headed...ARRRGGGGHHHH. Why Raph, why!" Leonardo screamed at him.

His body had been ripped from shoulder to thigh. Flesh and shell looked to have been torn to shreds. Donatello was the first to walk over to Raphael. He knelt down beside him and took his hand. Eyes closed he placed his forehead against Raphael's. A tear slipped down his face hitting Raphael's cheek. Donatello opened his eyes and watched the tear hit his brothers chest which rose then fell.

Donatello's eyes opened wide as he placed his fingers on his brother's neck searching for a pulse. His eyes flew to Leonardo. "Leo, he's alive!" He exclaimed.

The sick ball of despair that had threatened to overwhelm him lifted slightly. He was able to stand and stumble over to his brother's side, but how long would he last with injuries so grievous?

"How bad is he Donny?" Leonardo managed to choke out.

"I'm not a doctor Leo, but his pulse is strong." He began looking over his injuries. Donatello was silent for a moment then pulled back in confusion. "With this much blood..." He said to himself as he reached into his bag and pulled out his first aid kit.

He began cleaning a away the blood to reveal the injuries below. Donatello touched the scar tissue that was revealed by cleaning off the blood. "He's been healed." He said in shock.  
"What do you mean healed?" Leonardo asked, hope flaring within him.

"I mean his injuries look to be months old instead of minutes. He is badly scarred, but completely healed." He said in amazement.

Leonardo reached out and touched his brother, then shook him lightly. Michelangelo looked at him worriedly.

"So, why isn't he awake, if he's okay?" Michelangelo, who had been strangely silent, said in a confused voice.

Donatello looked again at Raphael's face. "I don't know Mikey. It's possible that he's still recovering. Let's get him back to the lair."

Leonardo grabbed an arm while Donatello grabbed the other.

They walked a few steps past the monster's head when Mikey stopped and looked at it, seemingly deep in thought. Leonardo and Donatello both stopped and looked over their shoulders at him.

"What is it Mikey?" Leonardo asked.

"I was just thinking." He began. "So this thing takes Raph out right away, then something manages to take it out and heal Raph and leave before we get here?"

Donatello and Leonardo both looked at each other. The thought that there was something out there that could take out a monster that their brother didn't even see coming was a frightening thought. The idea that it could still be around was even more frightening.

"But whoever did it healed Raph, so that means they must be friendly?" Michelangelo asked what they were all wondering.

"I don't know Mikey, I really don't know." Leonardo said as he took one last look at the chamber, turned around and began walking back to the lair.

He and Leonardo deposited Raphael in his room, Leonardo had decided to take first watch. They had managed to clean him up and discovered that he really was fully healed, just unconscious. Michelangelo was getting some rest so he could take over for Leonardo when his watch was over, but Donatello had a feeling it would be impossible to pull Leo from Raphael's bedside. They had all suffered a shock today and although Raphael appeared to be fine, the thought that they had lost one of their brothers seemed to weigh heavily with everyone. A deep melancholy seemed to have set in. He believed it would only be lifted when Raphael regained consciousness.

Donatello walked over to his security monitors. Anger and betrayal rushed through him. They had failed him. He had almost sent his brother to his death because there had been nothing there. They had recorded nothing. Yet how do you miss a 30 foot monster? For that matter who was the mysterious person who had slain the beast and healed Raphael's wounds.

He wanted to break every single screen and scream at the technology that failed him. "So this is how Raph feels all the time." He muttered to himself. A slight smile curling on his lips. Instead he sat down in front of the monitors and went over every inch of recording. There had to be something.

A hand on his shoulder woke him up. Surprised he jumped up. "Raph?" Adrenalin pumped through his veins. Leonardo looked at him and shook his head sadly. Donatello sat down, disappointment monetarily crushing him.

"I'm surprised Mikey managed to get you to leave Raph's side." He commented as he turned his attention back to the screen.

"I had no intention of leaving, but Mikey drove me out with threats about singing a complete album of yodeling. Where he would get a whole album of yodeling I don't know, but I did not intend to stick around to find out."

"It's my fault Leo." Donatello said in a voice filled with regret. "What if he never wakes up?"

"It's not your fault Donny, it's mine. I encouraged him to go because he was getting on my nerves. I'll never forgive myself." He said in a whisper.

They were both silent for a moment. "Don't worry Donny, you know Raph, he's too stubborn to let something like this keep him down. He'll wake up."

Donatello nodded. "I wanted to show you something. I managed to clean up some of the images that had gone grainy. I slowed down the time and found this." He showed Leonardo the images he had managed to pull from the recordings. "In each of these images you could make out faint shadows, a blur here, a blur there. I figured out this blur here is the monster, over here is a much smaller blur. I believe this is our mystery person. You can see a blurry shadow by Raphael right here." He pointed to the image that made his heart constrict. "Then for a little while nothing seems to move, the tapes go so grainy you can't see anything, then the image clears a little and those shadowy blurs start moving so fast you can't actually see them move, more like they appear in front of different camera's great distances apart. Then the camera's go completely offline until we enter the room. You can see us entering right here. And if you look, here is us looking at the monster, which is just a black smudgy blur."

"So the monster and whoever saved Raph are able to block themselves from the cameras? Is it some sort of cloaking device."

Donatello shook his head. "If it is, then it's like nothing I have ever seen. I have sensors that are specifically designed to block any electronic signals produced by something like that. After we battled the tech ninjas I made sure we wouldn't ever be caught off guard by something like that again. I even have a bio scanner that would pick up any object bigger than a cat." Donatello looked at the screen again, a sinking feeling filling his stomach. He rolled his chair over to the computer that controlled all of the scanners and ran a diagnostic test. The computer quickly ran a full scan and an error message popped up on the screen for the scanner that had been tripped.

"The sensor that tripped hadn't even been tripped." Donatello said in a shocked voice.

"What do you mean?" Leonardo asked him in confusion. "It went off."

"Yeah, but it went off because of a computer glitch. Look at this, the computer indicates that this sensor tripped because a software glitch told it to reset itself, which when it did it tripped itself. So it was just pure chance that the sensor tripped at the exact moment that the monster and whoever saved Raphael were there."

They both looked silently at the screen. "Leo, whatever this is," he gestured towards the screen with the shadowy blurs. "It may be bigger than anything we can handle, if it comes to that."

"I wish Master Splinter was here. He would know what to do." Leonardo said looking at the screen.

Please please read and reveiw!


	3. Chapter 3

Okay I know I know, where is the chick? Well here she is! Enjoy!

Please read and review!

Chapter 3

Three days had passed and Raphael still lay unconscious in his bed. Donatello paced in agitation. His voice was raw from constantly talking to Raphael, trying to bring him back to consciousness. He had managed to run scans on Raphael's body, but all results had indicated that he was fine and should be awake.

He was tired of the inactivity. What he really wanted to do was go back to the chamber and take samples of the monster. Try to figure out what it was that had made it invisible to the camera, but not to the naked eye. He had been trying to find some sort of container that would be able to hold a sample of the monster's caustic blood. He had also wanted a sample of its flesh.

"Mikey if you don't stop singing I'm going to shove that mp3 player some place the sun don't shine." A gravelly voice said in irritation.

Donatello sprinted for Raphael's room. "Leo!" He yelled as he passed his sleeping brother's door. "He's awake!"

Donatello rushed into the room. "Donny help get this idiot off me!" Raphael pleaded. Michelangelo was hugging him. "Ow, ow, ow, Mikey you're hurting me." Michelangelo stopped mauling Raph and backed away a concerned look on his face.

"I thought you said he was healed." Michelangelo asked him accusingly.

"He is Mikey, but the damage was extensive. The bandages aren't just for show, they are in case his wounds open again, also to make sure he doesn't try to overdo it. " Donatello said as he walked over to the bed and caught his brother in a hug. "You had us worried bro. How do you feel?" he asked seriously.

He moved his shoulder around and winced. "A little sore. I feel like I was hit by a small car, but I'll live." He smirked and turned his attention to the person standing behind Donatello. "Leo why are you looking at me like that?"

Donatello looked over his shoulder at Leonardo who was standing in the doorway. He turned his head away closing his eyes a tear trailed down his cheek. "I don't know whether to hit you or hug you." Angry, Leonardo punched the door jam. "Raph you irresponsible, hot-headed...!" Leo walked into the room and knelt by the bed. "We thought we lost you. Don't joke, don't you ever joke about this! We watched as that monster cut you down. I can't even describe the horror we all felt. That image will be ingrained in my memory until the day I die. Do you understand me.!" Raphael looked at the faces of his brothers and looked down at himself. He pulled off the bandages and traced the scars that now marred he body. He nodded sharply once.

Donatello wasn't surprised by Leonardo's anger, but it seemed to have taken a lot out of him for he spoke gently next. "Do you remember what happened?" Leo asked softly. Raphael looked at Leonardo.

Raphael looked away. "I lost." He said hollowly. "I didn't even see it coming." His head snapped around. "The woman where is she, is she okay, how long have I been here?" He asked in a near panic.

Leonardo turned and looked at Donatello. "Calm down Raph, what woman?" Donatello asked in confusion.

"She was..., I was holding onto her. She was right there." Raphael threw back the covers and tried to stand. He sagged slightly leaning on Leonardo. "I have to find her. Damn it Leo let me go! How long have I been here!"

"Three days." Donatello told him as he and Leonardo tried to get Raphael to lay back down.

"At least sit down Raphael." Leonardo begged him. "Tell us everything."

Raphael stopped struggling and sank back onto his bed. "The woman, she was..., she told me that the monster was dead, that I was safe." He said this bitterly. "Here I should have been able to protect her, but instead she...she was injured badly. I couldn't see her wounds but the blood, there was so much of it." He looked back down at his scars. "She said she was sorry for the scars, that she didn't have the time to heal me properly." Then he stopped as if remembering something. "She said she brought me back." He looked up at his brother's grim faces. "That monster it..." He seemed to have trouble for a moment as if he was again seeing what had happened to him.

"It's okay Raphael you don't have to..." Leonardo began.

"Yes I do, Leo, she took my wounds, I watched it happen! I watched as wounds exactly like mine ripped through her body. If they killed me..." He let the sentence finish itself. "The last thing she told me before she collapsed was that I was safe, and that it was... time for me... to... rest. " Raphael's words had slowed by this time, as if he was fighting sleep.

"Raphael, we didn't find anyone else. There was just you and the monster." Donatello told him in a soothing voice.

"She couldn't have gone anywhere. Believe me she was in no condition to move by herself, even if the wounds she suffered didn't kill her." He struggled to stand again. "I have to...have to..even if only to...bury her." Raphael collapsed back onto the bed.

The brothers looked at each other. "We didn't check the whole place Leo. We just found Raph and got out. Do you really think that this woman could still be lying in there?" Michelangelo asked?

They all looked at each other. "I hate to say this, but even if she was alive, it's been three days. And if Raph said that there was no way she was moving under her own power, then someone else that maybe Raph didn't see moved her." Donatello observed. He looked over to where Raphael lay. "Maybe we should have a look in the chamber tomorrow. If she is in there we'll find her, if she isn't then someone got to her before we did." Donatello looked back to Leonardo. "Rest easy Leo, he woke up, he'll be fine. Get some rest, we'll need you sharp tomorrow."

Leonardo looked at him. "Isn't that my line?" He asked a faint smile on his lips.

"Leo, we could go around in circles all day over who is to blame, but it won't help Raph recover. The important part is that he _is_ here and he _is_ recovering." Leonardo nodded once and Donatello walked to his room, exhausted beyond all measure. He fell into bed and into a dreamless sleep.

"Someone had better let me out of this room before I bust something!" Raphael screamed beating his fists against the door that his brothers had locked for his own "safety".

"Oh look who's all loud and cranky this morning, you must be feeling better Raph." Michelangelo said outside the door.

"Mikey if you don't open this door right now I'm going to find another one of those monsters and feed you to it!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. He could hear Mikey walking away laughing. He kicked the door angrily then flopped back down on his bed.

"Stupid over-protective..." He mumbled to himself then looked at the scars. He now had deep grooves carved into his shell reaching the skin beneath.

Pain greater than anything he had ever felt flashed through him. He lost his breath as it continued to intensify. He grasped his chest as he tried to breathe and couldn't. Hunger like nothing he had ever felt rolled through him.

_ Raphael_

His name ripped through his head as if someone was calling him.

Then as quickly as it had happened the pain stopped. He took a deep breath as the air poured into his lungs. "I know that voice." He jumped up off the bed, ran to the door and kicked it down.

Michelangelo stood just outside the door as it crashed open the chair that stood in front of it went crashing into the far wall.

Michelangelo looked at him in shock. "I was only kidding bro, I was just going to let you out."

Donatello and Leonardo emerged from their respective rooms and looked at the damage.

Raphael paused. What was he going to tell his brothers, that she was alive, that he knew it because she spoke to him? "We have to go, now! Before we are too late!"

Donatello and Leonardo shared a look. "Too late for what?" Leonardo asked slowly approaching him.

Raphael grabbed his forehead in frustration. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. We just have to go, now" He wouldn't tell them about the pain, or the voice, it would just worry them more. Besides it was possible that he _was _going crazy.

His brothers grabbed their weapons and Donatello brought his bag which he had packed with all of his sampling equipment.

They walked quietly down the tunnel that led to the structure. Each step closer they got to the chamber the more Raphael felt like he couldn't breathe. He had started to sweat and shake. His brothers looked at him with concern. He stopped at the entrance of the chamber and leaned against the wall. He bent over and began breathing in and out slowly.

"Raphael you don't have to do this. We can have a look for you and you can stay here. Mikey can keep you company." Leonardo said as he put his hand on Raphael's shoulder.

Raphael shrugged the hand off and stood. He could beat this, he had to go in there. He refused to be scared of a room. He screamed at his legs to move, to not shake, to carry him over the threshold. _Come on Raphael she risked everything for you and you are letting a room scare you while she could be dying! _He screamed at himself.

"I have to do this Leo. I refuse to be scared of a room." He took a step over the threshold.

"I can stay here if you guys want, you know guard the entrance, make sure everything is good back here." Michelangelo said looking around the chamber.

"Come on shell for brains, if I'm goin' in so are you." Raphael said as he grabbed Michelangelo by the arm and yanked. Oddly enough Michelangelo's reluctance to enter the room made Raphael feel better.

"I'm going to try to take a sample of the...monster." Donatello said in shock. The carcass of the monster was gone. Donatello leaned down and rubbed his hands over a scorch mark on the ground. "There isn't even any ash left. It's like it just burnt up. "

"Or someone burnt it." Leonardo said as he warily looked around. "Mikey you come with me, we'll check out the far side of the chamber, where the entrance to the outside is. Donny and Raph you guys search around where the monster was killed and where..." He stopped. The words _where we found Raph_, hung in the air. "Raph maybe you should go with Mikey..." He began.

"I'm fine Leo. I have to go back, to see where...I want to look and see where I ..." He couldn't say the word. What if it wasn't true. Did he really die there? Or was everything some strange dream. He was healed so something had happened, but did he dream up the woman? Staring at a piece of ground probably wasn't going to give him answers, but he had to look.

Raphael walked with determination towards where he had been cut down. Donatello followed him. He knelt down beside where he had fallen. The blood had dried a dark brown. There was so much of it that it looked as if there had been a slaughter.

Donatello reached down and looked at all the blood. "This is where you were. This pattern of blood is consistent with the injuries you suffered." Raphael could tell that this was hard for Donatello, but Donatello was trying to act is if he wasn't bothered by the blood. "But if you look over here there is more blood, and a lot of it. It also seems to be a little darker than yours."

Donatello stood and looked around. He walked a few steps away and noticed a trail of blood. It was just single drops leading away from where Raphael's body had lain.

Raphael and Donatello followed the trail in silence. It led to behind a crumbled wall. They both stopped as they gazed upon the woman who lay there. She wasn't well hidden, but hidden enough that if you weren't looking for her you couldn't find her. Donatello was the first to recover from the shock of finding her body and moved to see if she was alive. Her cloak was open and you could see the extensive wounds. Wounds mirroring Raphael's were cut into her. He could see where they cut through flesh and bone, exposing the organs beneath. She had other injuries as well, what looked like two puncture wounds had ripped through her, and also deep lacerations on her shoulder.

Raphael tried not to puke. He had held out a small hope that she was still alive. All of this was because of him. He said so to Donatello. Donatello reached down to check her pulse. They both knew what the outcome was going to be, but he tried anyway. Donatello fell back in shock. He looked at Raphael in shock then checked again.

"She has a pulse!" He said in shock. "But she's not breathing." Donatello moved her and began performing CPR on her. He blew air into her mouth and pulled back. "I can hear the air coming out of her lungs. Her lungs are shredded" He looked at her chest. "I've never seen this kind of damage. I'm not a doctor Raph. I don't even know how her heart is still beating." He looked back at her. Her chest rose then fell. Donatello and Raphael looked at each other in shock. "She's breathing." Donatello checked her pulse again. "Her pulse is slowing." Donatello looked at Raphael. "I don't think she has much time left Raphael. Her wounds are too grievous to recover from, even with proper medical treatment. I just can't believe that she's managed to survive this long." Donatello looked at Raphael. "It's not your fault Raph."Donatello said comfortingly.

"Don't...just. Don't Donny. All of this is my fault." Her face was still mostly covered by her hood. He wanted to see her face. To have it ingrained in his memory the woman he had failed to protect, that had protected him instead, given her life for his. He pulled her hood back a little and looked into the face of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. "Jeez, she can't even be old enough to drink. She's just a teenager." He choked out.

Donatello also seemed struck by her. "She's about our age Raph, probably 20ish would be my guess."

"That's what I mean. What is a girl this age going around fighting monsters for?" He looked again at her face. Her hair and skin was the colour of white marble. Dark brows arched over dark lashed eyes. Dark pink lips formed a perfect cupids bow. Slightly defined cheekbones flowed into a square jaw line that had three black markings on each side, like the stripes of a tiger. But she had scars as well. A vertical scar ran through her left eye while 4 slash marks ran from just below her right eye to just above her lips and jaw. The scars were not ruinous, more like fine silver marks that seemed to add to her beauty rather than detract. "And she's so small." He reached out and touched her face. She was cold to the touch. "She looks like she's just sleeping."

"Yes she does." Donatello said standing.

"Do you think you could give me a minute Donny?" Raphael asked in a whisper. Donatello nodded and walked around the wall.

Donatello walked around the wall to give him some privacy. "Hey Leo, Mikey, we found her!" Donatello yelled across the chamber at his brothers. Leonardo waved letting him know that he had heard. Leonardo and Michelangelo began making their way towards him.

Donatello turned as he heard a scuffling sound from behind the wall. Donatello darted back around the wall. "Raph don't even think of trying to move her. You're still injured..." The words died on his lips as the woman stood in front of Raphael. It looked as if they were embracing. Raphael's eyes were closed while her face was nuzzled into his neck. He stood there in shock not quite knowing what to do. The woman knelt down and laid Raphael on the ground. She looked over her shoulder at him. Her lips were stained red with Raphael's blood. Her tongue darted out and licked the excess from her lips. The movement was entrancing, he was unable to look away. He looked into her eyes and knew he was lost. Her eyes were bright moss green with flecks of golden brown in the center. Her eyes and skin seemed to be lit from within. She had been beautiful before, now she was devastating.

She walked over to him and while his brain was fighting, willing his legs to move he was unable to. She looked up into his eyes pulled him in close. He went willingly. He felt the scrape of sharp canines on his neck, and the warmth of her breath. The scent of something filled the air, a flower of some sort but not any he recognized, then her canines pierced his tender flesh. Pain washed through him and he tried to struggle, but arms like steel bands were locked around him. The moment he tried to struggle the pain evaporated and pleasure like he had never felt washed through him. He couldn't stand, his legs gave out as she held him and drank his lifeblood away. He knew he should be screaming for her to stop, but he couldn't, he wanted it to last forever. She finally broke away and he groaned in frustration. He wanted her to continue. He vaguely felt her lift him and carry him to his brother. He looked over to Raphael who looked to be unconscious. He looked up at her and watched in amazement as the wounds on her body began to heal. She pulled back the hood of her cloak and revealed lynx -like ears on the top of her head, as well as black hair that cascaded in waves down her back. It was just the hair in front of her ears that was white. Her ears flickered as she listened. She sniffed the air and let out a growl.

She had placed them against the wall that had hidden her. Leonardo and Michelangelo came around the other way so they were under the overhang of part of the second floor. She turned her back to both of them and let out another growl aimed at Leonardo and Michelangelo.

"Donny, Raph, are you alright!" Leonardo asked as he faced the woman with his Katana drawn. She drew her own swords from the scabbards on her back. One's blade was black with a red glow that surrounded it, the other blade was blue with a faint aura of black surrounding it. A third scabbard that was partially hidden by her cloak appeared to be empty.

She spread her legs in a battle stance and the leather cloak that was beneath the cloth one rose revealing that the leather cloak was in actuality a pair of large black leather wings that were nearly as tall as she was. A reptilian tail flicked in irritation from side to side. She took a step backwards. She had crossed her swords in a defensive stance.

Donatello looked over at Raphael who had regained consciousness and was looking at the woman in shock. "Donny, what happened?" He asked.

"I don't know, we were bitten and she has appeared to have recovered from being...almost dead."

Raphael touched his neck which came away bloody. He groaned. "She's going to get Leo." He tried to move but fell back weakened by blood loss. Donatello noticed he was a little better off than Raphael, but not by much. It took all of his determination to manage to get to his knees. "Donny, I can't move, I'm too weak." Raphael growled in frustration.

Michelangelo was standing to Leonardo's left, but she didn't seem to be paying attention to him. "Leo, what are we doing?" Michelangelo asked, his nun chucks unmoving in his hands.

"She attacked Donny and Raph." Ever the negotiator Leonardo lowered his swords slightly. "Why have you attacked my brothers?" He asked angrily.

Her only response was to growl louder, then she moved. She moved faster than any of them could track, one moment she was in front of them the next she had driven Leonardo into the wall. Blood spurted on each side of him as the swords struck and embedded into stone. A piercing scream rent the air.

"Leo!" They all screamed. Leonardo looked at her, shock written all over his face. She then grabbed Leonardo around the waist and pulled him from the wall. A giant creature screamed at them. It emerged from the shadows, its body like that of a giant centipede. It thrashed and struggled as it tried to get away from the two swords that pinned it to the wall.

Leather wings wrapped around Leonardo as she turned her back to the wall. Blood rained down upon them. She let go of Leonardo and he slumped to the ground apparently unharmed. She turned, jumped, hit the wall grabbing the red sword as she went and cut the head from a creature that screamed at her. Its blood arced hitting the brickwork behind it and above it. It shuddered in pain as its head landed at her feet. It's body looked to be made up of the surrounding shadow and it began to disintegrate almost instantly.

A reddish light drifted up from the creature's head, she grabbed at it and held it in her gauntlet encased hand. The claws of her gauntlet enclosed the light in a cage. She looked over her shoulder at them, as if weighing her options. She lifted the black sword and touched it to the light. The sword flashed bright as it consumed the light. In that moment Donatello could feel the pure evil that rolled off the sword. The darkness that the sword possessed was even worse than the darkness that they encountered when battling Tengu Shredder. She sheathed the sword eliminating the dark energy that it created. She grabbed her other sword and wrenched it from the wall. She turned and looked at them. She scanned the area, ears twitching, nose smelling. "Dunta!" She growled then leapt upon Leonardo. He tried to scramble out of the way but she covered him the instant the second floor and the supporting wall collapsed on top of them.

"Leo, Mikey!" Donatello and Raphael screamed

Michelangelo stood up coughing. Donatello managed to stand and stumble over to Michelangelo's side. "Are you okay Mikey?" He asked. Michelangelo nodded and he pulled himself from the rubble. Michelangelo was far enough away that he wasn't under the main section of the wall and floor collapse.

Raphael had managed to pull himself up and stumbled to where Leonardo and the woman were buried.

Raphael struggled to move the bricks, trying to dig his brother out. They began to dig, calling out Leonardo's name.

They managed to clear away enough of the rubble and found the woman. They heaved her out from beneath the brick. Leonardo was under the woman's body. He looked at his brothers as they helped him out. "I'm fine. "He said brushing off the dust and debris that covered him.

He knelt down beside the woman. "Donny how is she?"

"Well she's breathing and has a pulse, so she must just be unconscious. "

"Or that is what she wants us to think." Michelangelo said looking at them.

"It's probably to lull us into a false sense of security, then she pounces and drinks all our blood. AAHHH you two were bit!" Michelangelo backed up a few steps. "In all the monster movies if you are bit by a vampire you turn into one!" Donatello and Raphael looked at each other.

"Mikey, vampires don't exist." Donatello said in exasperation.

"But she exhibits the classic vampire everything! Pale skin, glowing eyes, desire to drink blood, superfast healing, super strong, super fast. She just walked away from injuries that should have killed her!" Michelangelo paused in thought. "Any cravings for blood, feel an aversion to garlic, don't like sunlight?" Michelangelo asked looking back and forth between Donatello and Raphael.

Raphael punched him in the shoulder. "Enough Mikey. Let's get going." Raphael stood shakily to his feet while Donatello helped him. They were both weak but they might manage between them.

"Mikey help Raph and Donny back to the lair." Leonardo ordered.

"But I don't want to be stuck between the two soon to be vampire turtles." Michelangelo complained.

Leonardo smiled, "Then I will help Raph and Don back while you carry the 'vampire' back to the lair."

Donatello looked at his brother. He had mixed feelings about bringing her into their home. She had helped them, but she had also attacked them. But it wasn't like they could leave her here. It was almost better that they take her to the lair so they could watch her. Leonardo was looking at him. "I know Donny, I want to be able to keep an eye on her, find out if she is friend or foe. Do you think you would be able to whip up some sort of containment for her? Do you feel well enough for doing something like that?"

Donatello nodded. He was still weak, but the thought of leaving her free left him feeling uneasy. But what could he use to contain her?

Leonardo leaned over and picked her up. He looked at her, seemed to change his mind and threw her over his shoulder. "Well no sense taking any chances. If she wakes up at least I can just drop her on her head if she makes any move to bite me."

Donatello grabbed Michelangelo around the waist while Raphael threw an arm around Michelangelo's shoulder.

They began walking back down the tunnel to the lair. "Or maybe you won't be vampires, maybe she will turn you into her willing blood slaves, or just a regular slave like Renfield." Michelangelo said while they walked.

"Shut-up Mikey." Raphael growled.

"Now that she's bit you she has a way into your mind."

"Shut up Mikey." Donny said angrily.

Raphael knew Mikey was only joking but all the same he couldn't stop the little sliver of doubt that Mikey could be right. Raphael looked at Donatello worry written all over his face.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Raphael slumped on the couch, he felt weak. He didn't like feeling like this. He tried to dredge up some of his usual anger and couldn't seem to find it anywhere. He looked at the room where they had decided to put the woman. He could hear Donny puttering around trying to figure out a way to contain her. Although if he took much longer she was probably going to wake up before he got the thing up and running.

He had overheard Donatello, Michelangelo and Leonardo arguing over what they should do with her armour. Not that she was wearing much of it, or much clothing for that matter either. She wore black metal shoulder guards that were inlaid with a swirling silver pattern. She also wore matching shin guards, made of the same black metal, but bound together in plates instead of a solid piece. There was also a wicked spike that crowned the guards that went over her knee. If she kneed you she could inflict some serious damage. The only other armour she wore were her gauntlets that reached her elbow. Silver plates were interlaced on a leather glove. The fingers of the gauntlet were metal and like the claws of a cat, but unlike a cat the inside of the claw was razor sharp. The claws also extended back so that if she were to backhand you, the reverse spikes would get you. Otherwise she wore a black strapless leather bra of some sort with white linen strips which looped around her neck and back. Her scabbards were attached by the linen strips, which made removing the scabbards a problem. Nobody wanted to take the swords out of the scabbards. They gave everyone the creeps.

She also wore a floor length white linen skirt (If you could even call it that.) It had been cut into two strips in the back to allow for her black reptilian tail, but also it was spit up the sides. Around the top band of the skirt was a strip of black cloth that met in the centre and trailed to the ground in front.

It had eventually been decided to just leave her with everything because after all she really didn't seem to need weapons to kill them, she was a walking weapon. He felt where she had bit him. He had bandaged it up but it was still a little sore.

"Here you go Raph." Mikey said as he jumped over the back of the couch to flop down beside him. Michelangelo handed him a slice of pizza and some orange juice. He didn't feel much like eating, but knew the only way to regain his strength was to eat.

"Thanks Mikey" He said as he bit into the pizza. The strong taste of garlic assaulted his taste buds. "Geez Mikey, easy on the garlic, I'm not a vampire you moron." He tossed the unfinished slice on the coffee table and finished off the orange juice to get the taste out of his mouth.

"Just makin' sure bro." He said with a smile.

Raphael punched Michelangelo in the shoulder, which made him feel a little better.

He stood to go find Donny and make sure he was taking care of himself.

He walked into the room and saw her laying on a table. A sheet had been draped over her as most of her clothes had been seriously destroyed. He looked at her face,. It was covered in blood and dirt. Something in Raphael's heart twisted looking at her like that. He looked at the containment field that Donatello had placed her in. He touched it, but nothing happened, it was a solid shield.

"I used some of those crystals that we found about 5 years back. The field should only affect anything biological. All inanimate objects should be able to pass through the shield." He looked at Raphael. "That's the best I can do."

"Good job Donny." Leonardo said as he walked into the room. "You two need to go and get some rest, me and Mikey are going to take first watch."

"Come on Donny, let's get something decent to eat, Mikey killed the pizza by putting garlic all over it to ward off us soon to be vampires." Raphael said jokingly, but some of what Mikey had said had rung true. She had been in his head, he knew it. She had called him to her, and he went running. It was a frightening thought to have someone able to do that to you. Control your mind, get in your head.

Raphael and Donny sat down to eat some garlic free sandwiches. Mikey was playing video games in front of the TV. Donatello and Raphael ate in silence for a few minutes before Donatello finally spoke. "How do you feel Raph. She seems to have got you a little worse than she got me."

Raphael shrugged. "I'm fine, just can't seem to get what shell for brains over there has been blabbing about out of my head."

Donatello took a drink. "I know how you feel. Jeez Raph when I looked into her eyes, I couldn't look away, couldn't move. I felt completely helpless, and when she bit me," He paused shaking his head. "I would have let her drink every last drop in my body just to keep feeling the way she made me feel."

"Don't worry bro, I know." They lapsed into silence for a few more minutes, or maybe it was longer. All he knew was the next time he looked up he had to bring his head up off the table. Donny was sleeping at the table as well. Groggily he was helped up by Leo.

"Come on Raph, let's get you two to bed." They walked towards his room. Leonardo left him at the door as he went to go wake Donatello up.

He flopped down on his bed and fell into a nightmare filled sleep that involved beasts with slashing claws and razor sharp teeth, and her death over and over.

She woke up and looked around her. She seemed to be encased in some sort of technological field. She looked over at the Kame who was guarding her. He was wearing orange, so it was not Raphael, who seemed to wear red. The orange Kame was sleeping. A necklace of garlic adorned his neck and several pieces of sharpened wood lay nearby. He had in his belt a weapon that was familiar, yes, nun chucks is what they were called. She looked around at her cage and slid off the table she was laying on. She walked over and touched the field. It resonated when she touched it. It was annoying that she could not just walk through the shield like she normally would be able to.

She had spent the last several hours poking about in her Soul Room. This was the place in her mind where her soul resided, everyone had one, hers was just more crowded than most. She had poked and prodded at the poison that had leached into her body, but had found that it had attacked her spiritually as well. Her usual ability to call upon her magic had been disrupted, and she was unable to figure out a way to remove the poisonous Binding.

Someone had been busy playing with the genetics of the Syna to bring her to her knees. But why use it, and without giving the Syna orders not to kill her? The Syna _would _have killed her, but why bind her magic? To make her easier to capture, or easier to kill? As far as she was aware He wanted her alive.

She could think around in circles all day and not ever understand Him. But just as she thought of this she remembered who it was who had called her to this place and time. Since favours were going to be owed, the fact that she was called may have more far reaching implications, like a full scale rebellion. She felt a slight sinking feeling at this last thought. She did not want to be dragged into the middle of that particular battle. But she knew she would go, if only to make sure that the balance was maintained. Besides she would go with the devil she knew, as opposed to the one she didn't. And even though that would be a really dangerous and irritating position to be in, helping Him, she would do it. She put this problem to the side and decided to focus on getting out of her cage.

She placed a clawed hand on the field again as she pushed. Her claws went through the shield until they hit her flesh. She looked around the containment field and smiled. It would only let inanimate objects through, keeping in the flesh. It was an interesting position to be in, actually caged. She did not wish to wake the Kame so she thought of the best way to get out without waking him. She knew she could rip the metal parts of the containment open like a tin can, since both the floor and roof were metal, but it would be very noisy. She looked at the sheet that had covered her and smiled. She looked at the crystal that was powering the machine. It was perhaps 5 feet away. She threw the sheet out of the field making a nice soft pillow on the ground for the crystal. She took off her skirt tied one end together in a knot so there was a little weight, and also a loop that could pull the crystal. She twirled the skirt like a lasso and her aim was perfect. It caught the crystal and she gently pulled it out of its little holder. It fell to the ground with barely a sound. She smiled in triumph as the field collapsed around her noiselessly.

She looked at herself and decided she wanted nothing more than to get the smell of blood off her body. The dirt she didn't mind as much, but the blood, it made her teeth tingle. It made her want to rend flesh and drink the sweet coppery taste down. She wanted to feel the pulse slow, the heart fight to pump, and hear the silence that death brought. She wanted to feel death, cause death, revel in the destruction of life.

She flicked her tail in irritation as she looked at the sleeping Kame. It would be so easy, he wouldn't even know she was coming. And this time it wouldn't be just a taste, it would be the full bloody experience.

She walked over to the Kame and gingerly lifted the garlic necklace from his neck. She knelt down and lay it at his feet. She stared at him dozing softly. She closed her eyes, stood, and walked out of the room. She was hungry, but she was not starving, not yet. The little blood she had from the other two Kame would have to do for now. The desire to kill, she would ignore it, no matter how tempting it was to just let go of that little bit of control.

She managed to avoid any other Kame. The place was silent. She found the bathroom after finding two other sleeping Kame. There seemed to be four of them. Raphael, Donatello, the blue one she had saved and the orange one she had slipped past. She looked around the bathroom and was a little impressed. It wasn't as disgusting as she was expecting a bachelor pad to be. She could smell the faint scent of a human woman, but it was very old.

She looked in the shower and noticed there wasn't any shampoo or conditioner, which didn't really surprise her too much since the Kame were hairless, but there was soap so she figured it would have to do. She stripped herself of her weapons and armour. What little clothing she had left was pretty much ruined anyway. The skirt was a bloody mess and so were the strips of linen that held her swords in place. The only thing salvageable was her black leather bust covering. It was also designed to help hold the swords in place. It was very hard finding clothes designed to accommodate the wings and tail. Her cloak was a blood drenched mess as well, which was a shame because she loved that cloak. She looked at her clothing, shrugged and dragged it all into the shower with her. She would wash the blood out as best she could.

She turned the water on and revelled in heat as it poured down her body. She had forgotten what having a shower felt like. She soaped up her body and hair and watched the rust stained water pour down the drain. She had forgotten many things. It was strange being in the company of mortals. She had almost forgotten about the simple day to day things that they did, like shower. She washed the blood out of her clothing best she could and threw them over the sides of the glass shower to dry.

Her ears twitched as she heard a noise. She turned off the shower and listened again. Could the Kame have woken and found her gone? She heard a yell this time, followed by more yells, and a distinct voice that yelled "Raph!"

She leapt from the shower grabbed her swords, using the leather ties wrapped around the scabbards she strapped them to her back and ran towards the yelling.

"Raph, calm down. Raph, look at me, it's your brother, Leo. I don't want to hurt you!" Leonardo was trying not to draw his katana on his brother, but he thought he might not have a choice. Raphael had his Sais drawn and was in a fighting stance. It had taken him a moment to realize that Raphael was in the middle of a waking nightmare, and so far he and Donatello were the enemy.

"I will destroy you, monsters. I will save her, so come and get me!" He yelled as he taunted them.

"Leo we have a problem!" Michelangelo yelled as he ran into the room. He skidded to a stop. "What's wrong with Raph?" He asked.

"He's having a nightmare." Donatello replied. "Unfortunately he seems to think that we are the enemy." Donatello dodged Raphael's strike.

"Leo, she's gone." Michelangelo said in a panic.

"Mikey! How did she get out!" Leo yelled, taking his attention off of Raphael who seemed intent on skewering Donatello.

"I may have fallen asleep, but I swear it was only for a moment." Michelangelo looked contrite and frightened.

"I have other things to worry about right now Mikey." Leonardo said as he dodged a strike Raphael aimed at him. He drew his blades hoping just to defend himself against Raphael's increasingly dangerous assault.

The door behind Leonardo suddenly burst open. The force of the entrance ripped the door from its hinges, again. Everyone stopped and looked at the intruder.

"Um Leo, I think we found her." Michelangelo said as he backed away from the woman who had entered the room, both swords drawn.

She was dripping wet and completely naked. She didn't seem to mind at that moment as she looked around the room. Her ears were moving and she was smelling the air. She scanned over the combatants in the room and relaxed slightly.

Leonardo backed up slowly protecting his brothers. Raphael was slumped against Donatello, his assault seemingly stopped.

"I couldn't save her Donny. I tried, I only made things worse. That monster, you have to help me stop it before it gets her. I have to save her this time." Raphael was panicked. He pleaded with Donatello who looked helplessly at Leonardo.

"It's okay Raph, calm down." Donatello said soothingly.

"It's not alright!" Raphael shouted. "She's dead because of me!" Raphael began breathing faster.

The woman sheathed her swords and studied Raphael. She took a few steps forward bringing herself into Raphael's line of sight. Leonardo blocked the woman's advance with his swords. She glanced at the swords flicked a glance at him and turned her attention towards Raphael. Leonardo's breath caught in his throat at that glance. Her eyes pierced him to his very soul. That glance told him all that he needed to know. Whoever she was, she thought of him as no threat to her. He was as insignificant as an ant she could crush at any time. He knew this and he still stood his ground.

"Raphael." She said in a voice that was like a little taste of heaven, and a little taste of hell. It rolled off his skin like the softest silk, all promise and seduction, desire and innocence, wrapped into a voice that could tempt angels.

She took a step closer, brushing up against the blades of the Katana. Leonardo strengthened his grip on the blades.

Raphael looked at her. "I tried to save you." He said in an anguished voice.

She tipped her head to the side and gave a lopsided smile. "You cannot save what is already damned Raphael. No one can save me... not even me." Then she was gone. Leonardo blinked. He hadn't seen her move. He glanced over his shoulder and saw her standing in front of Raphael and Donatello. "You need to rest Raphael. No more bad dreams shall bother you this night. Sleep."

Raphael closed his eyes and went limp in Donatello's arms. Donatello collapsed under the unexpected weight. She knelt down and picked him up as if he weighed no more than a doll. She placed him on his bed and touched his forehead as if checking for a fever. She frowned in thought. She glanced over at Donatello then knelt down. She reached out a hand and Donatello flinched back. "I am sorry I injured you Donatello. I just want to make sure I did not injure you too badly." She reached her hand out and peeled the bandage from his neck. She nodded and put it back. "I was gentle, it will heal up in a few days, and you will be none the worse for wear in a month or so." She helped him to his feet and looked back at Raphael. "Donatello I need to check something with Raphael. It is very important, but I don't think your brothers trust me, but I need you to trust me."

Donatello nodded then asked, "What do you need to check?"

She looked back at Raphael, "The state of his soul. Do you trust me?" She asked looking at Donatello. Donatello looked at her and whatever he saw comforted him. He nodded his head tersely.

"Ahh! She's using her mind control on Donny!" Michelangelo yelled at Leonardo. She reached her hand back and clasped the grip of her sword. She drew the blade. Leonardo panicked. "What do you think you are doing!" He screamed as he leapt at her. Donatello blocked him with his staff.

Leonardo panicked, "What do you think you are doing! Donny!"

"Leo stop, do you really think she means us any harm? She escaped and could have killed us at any time. I trust her Leo." Leo glanced over Donatello's shoulder looking at the blade she had drawn. It was the second blade, the one with the blue blade, but at this moment instead of the faint black light it had given off before, it glowed blue. It flickered and pulsed almost seeming to alternate between feeling malicious and kind.

She had stopped and looked to be waiting for his approval. He glanced at his brother who may or may not be brain washed. He backed off a step. "What do you mean you want to check the state of his soul?"

"It is a very long story and I will explain all later, but simply put, I need to make sure your brother's soul is in tune with his body, if it is not he will die. I resurrected him from a very traumatic death, sometimes these things happen."

"What are you doing with the sword?" Michelangelo asked.

"This is _Morte Morosus_,"

"Capricious Death." Donatello mumbled.

"Somebody speaks Latin, nicely done. Yes she is a very capricious sword. She can give life as easily as death." She smiled, then turned a very serious gaze upon Leonardo. "That is why you feel the need for death mixed in with the need for life. It was forged for the goddess Persephone, a goddess of life and death. Now if you will let me continue." She turned and lifted the sword blade down above Raphael's heart. She let the blade go and stood back. It hovered an inch above his steadily moving chest.

They all watched as the sword turned clockwise 360 degrees, then swung counter clockwise 360 degrees. As it continued to do this it began to chime. She had closed her eyes and listened intently. A minute passed and she opened her eyes plucking the sword out of the air and sheathed it. She was frowning slightly and Leonardo felt his heart drop.

She looked over at him. She blinked at him, seemingly coming out of a deep thought. "His soul is fine. It is ringing in tune with his body. Clockwise for soul counter clockwise for body. If you heard any difference in the chime he would be in trouble. "

"Then why are you frowning?" Donatello asked.

"His chime isn't as strong as I would like it to be. His soul has been damaged, which is not unexpected considering, and before you begin to worry his soul will recover, it will just take time. Until then there will be many more nights like this one." She put a hand against Raphael's cheek softly touching him. She looked at Donatello and moved over to him. "Thank you for trusting me Donatello. I know it must have been hard after what I did to you, and I am sorry." She gently and slowly reached out a hand and brushed it against his cheek. This time Donatello did not flinch but gave her a small nod.

She walked past Michelangelo then turned quickly. "Boo!" She said to him. Michelangelo jumped and screamed. She chuckled to herself as she looked at the damage she did to Raphael's door. "That stuff will not work on me, I'm not a vampire, and it would not even work on a vampire." She said as she walked out the door.

"Wait, you can't just leave." Leonardo said angrily.

"I can do anything I wish." She said over her shoulder. "Right now I intend to find something to wear." She stopped and turned slightly the lights from the hallway lighting her in profile.

Leonardo felt himself blush. The terror he felt for his brother and the confusion of her entrance had made him forget that she was a very beautiful, very naked female. Donatello and Michelangelo blushed as well.

"The goddess Artemis killed a man for accidentally happening upon her as she bathed in a moonlit pool. You are lucky I am not Artemis." She said with a smile. Their blushes got deeper. The smile disappeared from her face. "I go nowhere this night, I will be here in the morning. You all must rest, I will answer questions in the morning." With that she left.

Leonardo felt the weight of her suggestion. He had never felt so tired. He sheathed his swords and lay down where he stood. Michelangelo and Donatello slumped to the ground as well.

"She's playing with our minds again Leo." Michelangelo said as he struggled to stay awake.

"I know Mikey." Leonardo said. He found he didn't care, which was his last thought before sleep claimed him.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Raphael woke in confusion. When he had gone to sleep there had been no one in his room. Now all of his brothers were piled in and his door was hanging off its hinges. He rubbed his head and touched his cheek. He vaguely remembered a soft touch and he could smell something, the strong smell of flowers. He knew that smell, it meant that she had been in his room. He felt adrenalin rise in him only to fall. Why were his brothers in here, armed? Had she attacked them, had she escaped?

He moved to get out of bed and let out a small cry of pain. His shoulder, leg, and abdomen burned. He collapsed back into bed.

His cry woke his brothers up. They all looked at him with concern. "How do you feel Raph?" Leonardo asked gently.

"Everything hurts." He said bitterly. His brothers exchanged glances. "What happened last night?" He asked. As Michelangelo and Donatello helped him out of bed.

"You had a little bit of a nightmare." Leonardo said glancing at his brothers.

"What happened to the door?" He asked his trepidation growing.

"The chick broke it down." Michelangelo said as he let go of Raphael.

"Why'd she..." Raphael began.

"She broke out of her containment, and heard yelling, I think she thought someone was killing us." Michelangelo answered.

"Wow, that must have been some nightmare." Raphael said looking around his room. Nothing else seemed to be damaged. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well the chick sorta bibbidi bobbidy booed our heads into sleeping. We fell down where we were standing." Michelangelo said as he gestured towards his head.

"So where is she now?" Raphael asked. His brothers shrugged. Raphael started towards the door brushing away any need for assistance. His leg bothered him, but he could live with the pain. He stopped at the entrance of his doorway. She was seated in front of his door back facing him, almost as if she was guarding it. She didn't move as he limped around and stood in front of her. She was sitting cross-legged hands resting on her knees.

Michelangelo looked over his shoulder. "Looks like she's sleeping, and she's wearing clothes again."

"What do you mean again?" Raphael asked looking over his shoulder at him.

"You missed it bro, she was totally naked when she bust in your door." Michelangelo said as he approached her.

Her ears twitched as Michelangelo got closer. "You don't think she's fakin' it do you?" Michelangelo said in a small voice.

"Mikey shut it." Leonardo ordered.

Then she moved. Her eyes opened, swords were drawn and she crouched in a defensive stance. Michelangelo yelped and fell backwards scooting out of the way.

She didn't move to attack. They all looked at her eyes which were completely white. They slowly moved back. Her ears flickered again and she sat back down closing her eyes and sheathing her swords.

"That's amazing" Leonardo said in awe. "I think she's meditating, but she is able to still defend herself without breaking her meditation."

Her eyes suddenly opened and they were green again. "I was not meditating, I do not seek any higher thoughts, but I was...occupied." She said as she gracefully got to her feet. "And yes I heard you." She said addressing Michelangelo.

"You don't know their names." Donatello said in surprise. "You only address Raphael and myself by name."

She tipped her head slowly to the side and looked at Donatello. "You are correct."

"But how do you know our names?" Raphael asked. She turned her luminous green eyes upon him. He swallowed.

"You had best eat, Donatello, Raphael, you two as well. I will explain while you eat." She turned and walked towards the kitchen. She stopped and turned back a worried expression on her face. "How are you feeling Raphael?" She asked. He flushed and looked away. He hated being treated as if he was some delicate flower. He looked back at her to tell her to leave him alone and instead found himself looking down into concerned luminous green eyes. She touched his shoulder and traced the line of his scars down until they hit the top of his jeans. It didn't even cross his mind to tell her to stop. His breath caught in his throat. "Your wounds look good, just a bit of a pulled muscle in your shoulder and most likely your thigh, we'll work on those later. She reached up and removed the bandage from his neck, nodded slowly and put it back. "Go eat." She patted him on his shoulder and gently pushed him towards the kitchen.

Raphael tried not to limp but he couldn't help it. She didn't offer to help him which he was thankful for. It would have made him feel weak, to have to rely upon a girl to help him get to his chair. Weak and pathetic.

She grabbed a chair turned it around and sat down watching everyone as they got whatever breakfast they were eating. For Donatello it was toast with Jam; Leonardo was oatmeal; Michelangelo was a sugary cereal and Raphael enjoyed bacon and eggs, which Donatello kindly made for him. She watched silently as they all sat down and ate their breakfast. She seemed mildly fascinated by the process.

Michelangelo looked over at her and looked at his bowl. "Do you want some?" He asked mouth partially full of cereal.

A strange look passed quickly on her face before he could identify it. "No thank you." She said politely.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Leonardo asked her.

She blinked in surprise and thought. "Some hot water would be nice." She said finally.

"We have tea." Leonardo offered.

But she just shook her head. "Just water thank you."

Leonardo poured some hot water from the kettle that he had used to heat his oatmeal. He placed the mug in front of her and sat down waiting expectantly. She picked up the mug and looked curiously at the picture of a white, black eared kitten, head tipped to the side looking at her. She then clasped her hands around the mug and closed her eyes. She didn't drink just held the cup. She opened her eyes and looked at them. "I know Raphael's name because it was needed in order for me to call his soul back to his body. I obtained his Life Glass from Death."

"What's a Life Glass?" Raphael asked. She turned the force of her gaze at him and he felt uncomfortable, overly warm.

"It is shaped and works much like a hour glass, but holds the sand to each person's life. Each grain of sand contained within represents each second the person has lived, and will live. "

"And you took this Life Glass from death, as in Death with a capital 'D'?" Leonardo asked.

"That is correct. He came to claim what was his." Her gaze met Raphael's again and he flinched. There were too many emotions rolling around in her eyes. He would almost say she was angry, but that didn't feel right, maybe possessive?

"Why did you save me?" Raphael blurted out.

She looked at him in shock and then turned towards Donatello. "Donatello's name I know because I fed from him. I could have taken your names as well, but I had more pressing matters to attend."

Leonardo nodded. "I am Leonardo and this is Michelangelo."

She nodded. "I will give you warning, never freely give your name to a Being of Power, they can take your name and use it against you." The warning was given with a deadly chill. Raphael felt his skin grow cold. If she was one of these Beings of Power, had they just made themselves even more vulnerable to her than they already were, and why had she ignored his question?

"I am a Being of Power of sorts, but you need not fear me." She tipped her head to the side as if remembering something, or thinking about something. "Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo." Raphael heard his name upon her lips and felt as if she called him, did something, he could barely find the words to describe it, but if felt as if his soul was rung. His brothers looked at him in horror. She on the other hand did not seem to be aware of their horror.

"Leonardo Da vinci, Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. Renaissance artists." She said with a smile. She turned her gaze to Raphael. "I am glad you were named after a painter and not an Archangel. Just the thought of Archangels makes me ill.

Raphael looked at her in confusion. "I...that..." He looked at Leonardo for help.

Leonardo also seemed to be having problems forming a sentence. "Would it actually make you ill?" He asked

She shook her head, smile lost. "I do not get ill and am no fan of Raphael, Uriel, Phanuel, Zarachiel and Simiel. Gabriel is the only good one out of the lot, probably because he is...has not been, in God's favour for a very long time. Then there is Michael."Her eyes began to change as she said his name. Her pupils elongated like those of a cat and the green began to be overtaken by yellow amber. "If I ever go to war with Heaven, he will be the first to die by my bade." She blinked and her eyes turned to back to green. "As it stands Heaven is actually in my debt, and I am here because Gabriel asked for my help with a rampaging Syna."

"So you're not a demon?" Michelangelo asked. "You kinda look like a demon. And you said you were damned."

"What do you mean damned?" Raphael asked.

"You were talking in your sleep, and you were upset about not being able to save her." Donatello said as he gestured towards her with a spoon. "She said you can't save what is already damned, and that she couldn't even save herself."

Raphael looked back at her in confusion. Could she really be a demon?

She just looked surprised, then tipped her head in thought. "I guess I can see how you would come to that conclusion. I guess I could be a tempter demon, or an succubus." Donatello looked up at the last word. He slowly put down his spoon.

"What's a tempter demon, or a succubus?" Michelangelo asked.

"A tempter demon is just what it sounds like, a demon designed to tempt you into giving up your soul. They are shape shifters generally, but kind of rare nowadays. A succubus however, they are more common. They are a demon that is able to be what you most desire for a sexual partner. And judging by your reactions last night, I seem to be pushing the right buttons." She said with a seductive smile. "They are everything you want them to be until they begin sucking the life out of you, possibly till death." She paused in thought.

"Succubi have the appearance of a woman with bat like wings and a tail." Donatello said as the others looked at her wings and tail.

"True." She said with a smile.

Raphael tried to swallow, but he couldn't seem to. She was all temptation. Sex oozed out of every pore as she straddled the chair. "But I am not a demon. I've been to Hell and back. Been there done that, didn't buy the t-shirt at the souvenir shop on the way out after I decimated about three quarters of Lucifer's demon army. Ahh good times." She said with a malicious smile.

Raphael noticed that she didn't comment on how she was damned. Just like she did not tell him why she had saved him.

"So what are you?" Donatello asked.

She turned all of her attention on Donatello. He looked back at her steadily. She smiled at him and rested her head upon her hands. Her cup sat on the table getting cold. "I was summoned by Gabriel to contain the Syna. The Syna _should_ have been easy for me to deal with." Her gaze swung around to Raphael again. Her eyes narrowed and began to bleed to amber again. "When I told you to run, I meant run, not stay and taunt the Syna. Because of you..." The last word was a growl. She stopped talking and closed her eyes breathed in and out, and opened them again. "And now I have been cut off from my godhede" She looked at her hand. Looked at their confused faces rolled her eyes and said, "My godhood, basically I am powerless." She closed it into a fist and stood walking away from the table.

Leonardo stood as did Donatello. The glare of that angry gaze had immobilized Raphael. He knew he never wanted to have that gaze directed upon him. He felt bad, but then he pulled his anger around him like a protective cloak and shot to his feet, injuries forgotten. "I was trying to HELP you lady. Do not throw that in my face. I don't run from a fight, the bigger they are, the better I pummel them!" He said with a roar. Her back was to him but he saw her tense.

"Raphael calm down." Leonardo ordered.

"I will not have her lecturing me about my actions!" He yelled at Leonardo. He was furious.

She turned to face him, her eyes blazing amber, her pupil a slit that was so narrow it could barely be seen.

Michelangelo slowly stood. "Raph, it might not be a good idea to taunt the scary vampire lady."

"Shut it Mikey." Raphael said as he stood his ground.

Leonardo stepped between the two of them. Leonardo seemed unsure if he should face Raphael or the woman. He chose to stand sideways between the two. A low growl issued from her as she pulled back her lips exposing her fangs.

She stopped growling and closed her eyes. When she opened them they were moss green again. She looked away from Raphael who felt his anger subside. "I forget sometimes..." She said to herself. She turned back to Raphael and bowed at the waist. "I apologize Raphael, you did not know what it was that you were doing, or what would happen. If I could not have determined such an outcome, I could not expect you to."

Raphael felt like an ass. He wanted to sit down back in his chair as his leg was starting to bother him, but he refused to look weak in front of her.

"Why are you avoiding questions? You are talking in riddles." Leonardo said with a slight edge of anger in his voice.

"I am trying to protect you." She said angrily. "The less you know the better." She turned slightly away and slowly raised her arm. She began saying something under her breath. If he had had hair it would have begun to stand on end. He felt power trickle and move across his body. She was staring intently at something in front of her. A vague outline of something that looked like a staff began to shimmer in the air. But whatever it was she was trying to do was costing her. Her face was strained with concentration, her teeth were clenched as she willed whatever it was to her. It was then that her ears and nose began to bleed. She let her hand drop to her side in defeat.

She began to waver on her feet, Leonardo moved to catch her before she fell. "Donny!" Leonardo shouted as he slung her up into his arms. "Are you okay? You're freezing! Donny grab her a blanket or something."

Her head was cradled by Leonardo's neck. She said in a slightly slurred voice. "A blanket will not help warm my body. I have too little blood in my body to circulate it well. I will only become warmer if I consume more blood. You smell good Leonardo.

Leonardo froze. She opened her eyes and looked at him. They were a blazing green. The blood on her face and in her hair suddenly began to evaporate into a black mist.

"That was a very bad idea." She said still looking at Leonardo. He hadn't moved and was still looking at her. Leonardo was the first to look away and she moved so he put her down. "Do not worry Leonardo I shall not feed upon your family, unless of course it is offered, by their own free will."

Raphael looked at his brother, a wave of something rushed through him, some emotion he didn't want to inspect too closely.

She began to pace back and forth looking at each one of them in turn. She then seemed to come to some conclusion. "Raphael you had better sit back down in your chair before you fall down." She ordered.

Rage boiled through him. He would damn well stand if he wanted to. And he said so.

She looked at him then looked at Leonardo and that look made him see red. "Don't you dare look to him." He said in a deceptively quiet voice.

"Can you do something about him?" Michelangelo asked. "Can you make him have a better personality, that would be helpful. ."

She walked over to him. "Yes. But if I changed his personality it would no longer BE him." He looked defiantly down into her eyes. Her head tilted to the side as if deciding what to do with him. "Sit down Raphael." He sat. His mind hadn't even processed the request, he just obeyed."It was not a request Raphael. I did warn you, I did not however say specifically how you would end up back in the chair." She closed her eyes. "I do not like taking away the will of others." She sighed and seemed to come to some sort of conclusion. "I will give you my word that I will not take away any of your wills again." She said softly.

"What does your word mean to us?" Leonardo asked.

"My word is sacred, I cannot break a vow, unless it is removed by the one upon who it was given." She said seriously. "I am not sure if it is better for you to be ignorant, or to be in full possession of the facts, but considering I am completely without my powers, and have the inability to get home, I would rather you not bumble into something that could get all of us killed." She said to all of them.

"What were you doing?" Donatello asked.

"I was summoning my staff. I should be able to pluck it out of the air, but I am wholly without the ability to do this. My staff allows me the ability to focus my powers better, makes them stronger."

"Great, we're dealing with supernatural stuff aren't we? I hate supernatural stuff." Raphael grumbled.

She ignored him and continued."How much do you know about the gods? She questioned. "And Heaven and Hell for that matter?" She asked grabbing her cup from the table. She took it to the sink, dumped it and refilled it from the kettle. She placed the hot cup against her cheek and sighed.

"Hell is bad, and Heaven is good." Michelangelo said into the silence that the question evoked.

"If you believe that sort of thing, Heaven is said to be populated by God and his angels. It is where those deemed worthy go when they die. Hell on the other hand is populated by demons and ruled by Lucifer. It is where sinners go." Donatello supplied for them.

"True and true. Heaven and Hell are the high rollers of the godly plain at the moment. They have a lot of pushing and pulling power. But Heaven and Hell are not the only places of rest out there, nor is God the only god out there. But Heaven and Hell are the strongest and when Heaven and Hell fight, everyone listens."

"So what, Heaven and Hell are having a rumble?" Raphael asked sceptically. They had seen a lot in their twenty odd years, aliens, Japanese demons, mutant monsters, so the fact that they were talking Heaven and Hell didn't bother him too much. He had never thought much about what would happen when he died, and considering he had been close to death many a time, not to mention now he actually had been dead, was kind of surprising.

She shook her head. "That's the problem, I don't think Heaven and Hell are fighting. I have thought about it and I believe Hell is fighting with itself."

"And that would be bad why?" Raphael asked.

"Heaven and Hell have created a balance. Very much like Yin and Yang, there are elements within each that are darker and lighter. They are structured in such a way that neither can gain an advantage over the other. Only an outside force would be able to tip the balance one way or the other. When last I encountered Lucifer I broke some of the balance by killing so many of Lucifer's army. This may have set things in motion for a rebellion. A rebellion in Hell could result in the breaking of the balance. You see as much Lucifer is topping my bad book at the moment, he keeps the Accords and obeys the Rules. However if a Demon Lord gains power the Accords would have to be re-written, and the demons would not make any Accord with Heaven. They could basically begin the Apocalypse. I do not believe it would be a devil that has started the rebellion, the devils are quite loyal to Lucifer."

"Um, what's the difference between a devil and a demon?" Michelangelo asked.

"Demons are demons, creatures created by all of the evil emotions of humanity. Devils are also known as the Fallen, the angels that followed Lucifer into Hell or were cast out of Heaven." She paused in thought. "Judging by the fact that there was a Shadow Glide hiding within the shadows of that chamber I would have to deduce that it is Beelzebub, who is either the one who is trying to overthrow Lucifer, or at least involved with the rebellion to some degree or another. But Beelzebub is a Fallen so..." She shrugged.

"So the Syna and Shadow Glide, are demons...from Hell." Donatello asked in shock.

"Correct. Fast and incredibly deadly, they are practically impossible to kill."

"But you killed those two all by yourself." Raphael interrupted.

She shook her head. "I didn't have time, I destroyed the Syna's mortal body, but didn't catch its soul. If I had consumed its soul or obliterated it, then the Syna would be dead, as it stands I only sent it back to Hell, which means in three days when it reforms itself, its master will know everything that happened here. The Shadow Glide's soul is currently being housed within _Cuthach Fuilteach_." Raphael looked at her in confusion. "Bloody Rage, my sword. But it can't stay there indefinitely."

"So this spy demon, would it have harmed Leonardo?" Donatello asked.

"Most definitely. They are extremely poisonous. Much like a spider they inject a venom into their victims that turns their insides into mush. I am sorry for frightening you Leonardo. But I knew that if the Shadow Glide knew it had been spotted, it would either run or attack. I took a great risk in exposing you to the demon's blood, and I am glad you were not injured."

Leonardo looked shocked. "I never did thank you for saving my life...twice. I am grateful to you. The blood it didn't burn you?" Leonardo asked.

"I am immune to demon blood. I really do not know why, as far as I am aware only I and the demons themselves are immune to their blood." She shrugged then put a finger to her lips. " Shhh trade secret, even Lucifer and the Fallen are harmed by it." "

"So why do you think there is a rebellion in Hell?'

"Demons such as the Syna and Shadow Glide are very low ranking demons. They don't _have_ mortal bodies. They would have to make them or have someone make them for them. Otherwise they could not leave Hell. The fact that someone expended this energy to allow for them to leave Hell, feels like a lure to me. Someone would know that it would be I and not a contingent of angels that would be sent to deal with the Syna. You see angels don't like having mortal bodies, they never seem to be able to transition to being angels again very well. Some do, but to take the chance, most are not willing to take the risk. I on the other hand traverse all three plains of existence, mortal, death and godly. I am also in the unique position of being powerful enough to deal with a demon like the Syna with little difficulty. At least in the normal course of events." She grumbled. "But this Syna's poison has been altered probably specifically for me. It has bound me with a Binding of some sort, stripping me of my magic, thereby rendering me not quite powerless but pretty close. The Binding feels like it should be breakable, but I am not sure I would be able to break it at the moment without killing myself." She said grimly. Her eyes shifted to Raphael.

"Considering how much of my magic is bound I am surprised I managed to survive the Syna's attack as well as actually being able to resurrect Raphael. Although it would go a long way in explaining why, even though I took Raphael's wounds upon myself, he is still injured." She said as she looked at the scars that now ran across Raphael's body.

"So that demon, could that thing have killed you?" Raphael asked. His voice heated.

"Oh yes I can die, just like anyone else. If my injuries are bad enough, if I can't heal them, then yes that Syna could have killed me. I can take more damage than most, but even I have a limit as to how much I can heal."

"So that brings me back to my question, why did you risk your life for me. you don't even know me. And what the hell are you? You talk about demons and angels and gods as if they aren't a big deal!" Raphael asked heatedly. He wondered if she was even going to answer his question or avoid it altogether.

She looked at him steadily. "I could ask you they same question Raphael. Why would you jump in the middle of a fight between two combatants who you did not even know. Risk your life for someone you didn't know."

Raphael stood and stalked over to her as best as he could. He got right in her face and said, "Because it was the _right _thing to do. Because you don't run away when someone is in trouble."

She studied his face intently. Then she said one word. "Yes."

He grabbed her by the shoulders. "But I was dead, I died, I lost, I was no good to you out there. Why? Why go to all of the effort and risk to bring me back, when I was useless to you. You could have been killed by that thing as you tried to bring me back. You had to get my Life Glass from Death himself just to bring me back. I don't understand why!" He shouted at her as he searched her eyes for an answer.

"Do you not believe your life worth saving?" She asked.

Raphael growled, squeezing her shoulders tighter. "Why do you always answer with a question. Just tell me damn it!"

She looked at him, green eyes steadily looking into his brown ones. "I believed you to be worth saving. I also believed you to be a Kappa."

"A what!" Raphael asked.

"A Japanese water demon." Donatello supplied.

"What!" Raphael asked. "You thought I was a demon? Why would you save a demon when that was what you were killing1?" Raphael asked in disbelief.

She broke eye contact with Raphael and looked at Donatello. "Would you like to explain the difference?"

"Japanese demons are not like western demons. They are more like spirits, they can be benevolent or malevolent. If enough offerings are given to a kappa it may help a village with irrigation, or medicine. They like eating cucumbers...and children."

"You thought I was this Kappa thing?"

"Correct, when I got closer I realized you were not a Kappa but a Kame." She paused in thought. "A turtle. A giant walking, talking turtle, with Indonesian Zai."

"What?" Raphael asked.

"You are asking that question quite a bit. Is there something I am not explaining satisfactorily?" She asked with a look of complete innocence.

"Don't bother Raphael, google it later." Donatello said with a smile.

She shared a smile with Donatello and Raphael noticed that something seemed to pass between them. "But then I assume you know that you are a walking, talking turtle...living in the sewers of Manhattan."

"Of course I know that!" He shouted at her.

"So how do you end up being a giant Anthropomorphic turtle living in Manhattan?" She asked.

"A giant Anthro-po-what? It's like talking to Donny!" He shouted.

"Wow, she's good." Donatello observed. Leonardo just nodded in agreement. Raphael glared at his brothers.

"Basically a humanoid turtle Raph." Donatello explained.

Raphael turned back to her and said, "Genetic mutation, it's a long story involving aliens."

She looked slightly confused. "I see. But you seem to practice the eastern art of Ninjitsu. "

"We are ninja. Our father Master Splinter taught us. " Leonardo answered.

"Biological father?"

"Giant walking, talking rat, genetic mutation." Michelangelo said smiling.

"It explains much." She said the confusion leaving her face.

"Explains what! Can't you just give a straight answer?" Raphael roared.

"Is he always like this?" She asked with a smile.

"You have no idea." Michelangelo answered with a laugh.

"But what is the fun of giving a straight answer?" She said with a smile.

Raphael tried to shake her but found it was like shaking a brick wall. He didn't even know if she knew what he had tried to do. If she noticed she did nothing to let him know either way.

"It explains this." She said as she reached out and touched his chest. It suddenly blazed to life with the red markings he had received during the time he spent with the Tribunal.

He looked at his blazing arms and body in shock. They had not been able to use the powers they had received since they had defeated Tengu Shredder.

"What the...?" He asked as he looked at his brothers in shock.

"You each possess a small bit of magic within your soul. It was not born there, but it was magic acquired, and no matter what your origins it makes you mine."

The possessiveness with which she said the last word shocked him. He looked at her again and saw a look of fierce protectiveness.

Something in him loosened a little. He let go of her shoulders and noticed angry bruises had formed on her arms where he had been holding her. He looked at her arms in shock. He quickly stepped away from her and began stammering out an apology.

She looked down at her arms and he and his brothers watched as the bruises faded and disappeared. "You are going to have to be more careful Raphael. Any injuries I sustain are healed by my blood, and I do not have any to spare. You can hurt me, and injure me, but you cannot kill me."

"Are you going to actually tell us who you are now?" Donatello asked. "You got all of the information from him while giving us nothing about yourself. Why is that?"

"It has been a long time since I have had much contact with mortals. I am used to dealing with gods, deities and the like. I am unable to lie, therefore it behoves me to be able to talk and direct conversation in such a way that I can avoid telling the truth if I wish to keep the truth secret. So it is not intentional, more habit. While you have been telling me about yourselves I have been deciding if it would be both prudent and relevant to tell you who and what I am. After your candour I believe I must reciprocate. But be mindful that the information you wish could put you in danger. Are you willing to place yourself in this position?" She looked to each of them.

"Oh get on with it already Lady." Raphael said in exasperation.

She shrugged. "If you have not already guessed I am a god, goddess actually. You may call me Andora, Goddess of Magic. And although this does not sound impressive, let us just say that both Heaven and Hell tremble at the sound of my name. I am from this world but no longer inhabit it. I rule a world of magic and I am the most powerful god on my world, possibly on both worlds." She then smiled a self depreciating smile then said. "At least I was until this binding bound all of my ability to use what I am. Which is incredibly annoying."

"And so now I am trapped on your world, unable to return home or leave the mortal plain, with Hell in rebellion and the possibility that Hell is coming for me to either use me or destroy me. And make no mistake, in the state I am now, Hell could easily destroy me."

Raphael looked at the goddess and was speechless. What could he say to that.

"Is my family in danger?" Leonardo asked.

"I believe so. When the Syna regains its form in Hell it will tell its master what happened. I cannot predict what, if anything, its master will do with the information he or she receives. I give you my word Leonardo I will protect your family with my life. If I fall it is also possible that the demons will leave you alone, but as you are not human and not covered under the Accords of Heaven and Hell you will be fair game for the demons. I will stay here for now."

Raphael looked at Leonardo who looked worried. Raphael felt as worried as he looked. But the question that floated through his head was, _who was going to protect them from her?_

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	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Two weeks passed and a routine of sorts was started. The goddess was ever watchful, constantly on guard for the first few days. She then began to relax, she was still wary but began to take an interest in the four brothers. She helped them each night as Raphael screamed in terror as he imagined the Syna ripping him apart night after night. He no longer attacked his brothers, but thrashed around so badly they were worried he would injure himself.

"Is that all you've got?" Her silken voice taunted him. She stood there unarmed, arms folded across her chest.

He was already breathing hard, sweat rolled down his neck. He was starting to get angry. He had been sparring with her for two days and she was really beginning to piss him off.

"I think that even if I were to move at mortal speed you would still be too slow." She taunted as he charged and threw a punch at her face and missed by half an inch at best. She had just tipped her head to the side, she then moved a foot to her left as his other fist tried to strike her in the gut. He had hit air both times. She backed up leaving space between them.

"So predictable." She said with a condescending smile. He had had misgivings when she had first suggested she spar with him. It seemed wrong to try to beat up a girl, but when he had tried to go easy on her he had found that she was mocking him. She was still mocking him. He couldn't lay a hand on her. No matter how fast he moved, no matter how fast he changed his tactics, she was always just not where the punch or kick landed. Today he was using his sai, not that they had given him any advantage at all against the weapon-less, armour-less, practically naked goddess.

He screamed in frustration as he threw one sai at her and charged. He was so angry all he saw was red. She dodged his sai and leapt over him placing a hand on his shell as she flipped over him. She landed behind him gracefully and without sound. He kicked out aiming low and sweeping with his injured leg. He winced as pain shot up his leg. She was of course not where he had aimed his kick. She had leapt to the side again his kick just missing her by a hairs breath.

She looked at him. "Time to stop Raphael." She said calmly.

But he couldn't stop. The rage had built itself up and it needed an outlet. He punched out again and again, as she dodged each time. He kicked, spun and lashed out with his sai. Each time he caught nothing but air.

He charged again throwing a punch with his injured arm. He looked at her eyes which had begun to bleed amber. She didn't moved when his blow connected, instead she caught his fist in her hand. She looked at him, eyes blazing anger and she crushed his hand in her grip.

He screamed in pain as he fell to his knees. "I told you to stop Raphael." She said softly. She released his fist and walked a few steps away.

He shook out his hand and tried to stand. He found he couldn't put weight on his injured leg. "I told you to stop because you had reached your limit. Now you have injured yourself and increased the amount of time that it will take you to recover."

She walked back over to him and helped him up. He was still angry but his rage was slowly being replaced by pain. "If you learned to control your rage instead of letting it leak all over the place you would be a much better fighter." She said angrily. Her eyes were beginning to return to their usual moss green.

"Yeah, Master Splinter has been trying to get me to control my temper for years, I ain't changin' lady, not even for you." He said the last with a cocky challenge.

He was leaning against her. He had recognized the advantages of having her help him this last week. Her arm was across his shoulders and he could smell her flowery scent as it drifted up to him. Although her body was a little cold it felt good pushed up against his more flushed one.

She looked up at him and smiled that seductive smile of hers. "We will see." She purred. He laughed. It felt good to be able to laugh again.

The last two weeks had taken some adjusting to. He still woke up in the mornings more sore than when he went to bed. He had also found that he was tired, very tired. Some mornings it was all he could do to manage to get out of bed. But he had also noticed that his brothers didn't seem to be doing much better. The goddess apparently didn't sleep. His brothers seemed to still be on edge, but he felt as if things were maybe returning to normal.

He looked covertly at the goddess. He had found she had a sly sense of humour and frequently made him laugh. He had been relegated to bed rest on the couch for the last 12 days and it had been hell. They had all sat with him. Leo had brought him some magazines, Donny and shown him his plans for a new shell cycle and he had given his input into a few ideas of his own. Mikey had brought out some of his movies and she had watched a few hockey games with him. He had tried to get her to watch some football but she had refused. She had said football was boring, rugby was better.

She led him over to the couch and helped him to sit.

"Raph got beaten by a girl...again." Michelangelo laughed at him.

"And do you believe you could do better Michelangelo?" She asked sweetly showing her fangs.

Michelangelo laughed and leaned his elbow on Raphael's head. "Nope, not stupid enough to try. Plus I'm okay with being beaten by a girl." Michelangelo looked at where Leonardo was sitting and watching. "But I know who would be stupid enough to try. Hey Leo, why don't you spar with her, have a good old sword fight. You've been a little tense and grumpy, burn off a little of your anger."

"I'm not angry!" Leonardo snapped. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She moved fast so that when he opened them he was staring right into her eyes. He started and glared at her.

She tipped her head to the side. Raphael and his brothers had noticed that she did this when she was thinking. It didn't seem to be a conscious thing, just something that she did. "Do you have a spare set of katana?" She asked.

Leonardo nodded his head. Raphael knew that after Leo had lost his swords a few times he needed to keep a spare set. All of them had at least one spare set of weapons.

"Mortal speed, mortal strength, your swords, which are by far different than my own. Odds would actually be tipped in your favour." She said backing away from him. She shrugged.

"Hey, that's not fair. You never gave me those odds. I want a rematch." Raphael complained.

She turned towards him and glared. "You will be relegated to the couch for the rest of the day Raphael."

"Yeah and are you going to make me." Raphael taunted.

She smiled, but the smile wasn't threatening. "Oh believe me Raphael, I could think of a few ways to keep you happily relegated to the couch for the day." She purred showing her fangs. Blood rushed to his face and other areas.

He opened his mouth to say something smart but nothing came out. His mind had stalled and sat there in idle.

Michelangelo laughed. "Mark it on the calendar, Raph is speechless, and he's blushing."

"Fine I will go get my second set of swords." Leonardo growled as he stood up and walked to his bedroom. She blinked looked at Leonardo's retreating form thoughtfully.

Raphael crossed his arms. "I still want a rematch." He said crossly trying to cover up his blush.

She just looked at him. "Raphael may I ask you a question?" She asked him.

Her eyes studied him seriously as she walked over to him all curves and swaying hips. She leaned down as he scooted back into the couch as far as he could. "Do you really think you could beat me as I am?"

He opened his mouth, rethought what he said then shook his head no.

"Then why do you fight me?" She asked.

"Because I want to get better, because I want to be able to beat you." He growled.

"So you fight me, get angry, fight harder and injure yourself more because you want to beat me even though you have already admitted that you cannot win against me."

"Something like that yah." He said slightly frustrated. When she put it like that...

"Then you are a fool." She said to him as she stood.

"Hey!" he shouted, anger surging back.

"You fight with a Fool's Chance Raphael."

"Take it back." He growled as he tried to stand.

She looked at him unbothered by his anger. She just pushed him easily back down into his seat. "Never underestimate the power of a Fool's Chance Raphael. I will admit to admiring that particular quality."

Leonardo stood behind her weapons held out for her. She reached back and took hold of them without looking away from him. "Nonetheless, this conversation is not over Raphael." She stood and turned her attention to Leonardo.

"I'm not a child." Raphael said angrily. She was driving him nuts.

She looked at him with a heated stare, that told him that she was very much aware that he was not a child. He swallowed hard. Damn it, he felt like he was on some sort of hellish teeter totter fluctuating between being turned on and pissed off.

"Compared to her, you are Raphael." Donatello said as he joined them. "Think about it, she's a goddess, she's got to be ancient." He said with awe.

"Thank you Donatello, way to make a girl feel old, and to think I didn't feel a day over 2000." She said with a smile dripping in sarcasm.

Donatello blushed. "Way to go bro." Michelangelo said laughing.

She turned her attention to Leonardo and took a sword in each hand.

"Why don't you just use your own swords?" Raphael asked her as she began testing the balance and feel of the swords.

She was inspecting the blade. "Because my swords are immortal weapons, forged by gods upon the godly plain. Which basically means they slice through mortal weapons like they are tinfoil." She looked at Leonardo. "You made these didn't you?"

He nodded in surprise then looked angry. "Just because they weren't crafted by gods..." He began hotly.

"They are very well made. You put a little of your...heart into it." She said ignoring him.

Leonardo flushed in anger and embarrassment. She walked over to him and gave him the swords back. Leonardo looked shocked as he took them. She got close to him, bodies almost touching as she reached over and pulled his swords from their scabbards. She inspected them as well. "These are your fighting swords." She said looking at them. "Your soul has been forced into these ones." She placed them back in their scabbards and took the spare set back.

"My soul?" Leonardo asked.

"Not your actual soul, more like part of your spirit, part of what makes you ...you."

She tested the swords again. "These are a little longer than the two swords I usually use." She crossed the swords together and bowed her head. Leonardo took up a position opposite her and bowed as well. She looked up and they began to circle each other. Leonardo took the offense first striking her crossed swords. She tried to push him away but found she couldn't. Suddenly she fell to the ground. Leonardo who had been pushing against her fell forward. She got two feet on his chest and using his momentum she threw him over her. She rolled and got to her feet as Leonardo caught himself with an arm and managed to flip back onto his feet.

"You're pretty strong, stronger than my body is when just using mortal strength." She said with the faint hint of surprise.

She charged Leonardo and what followed was a steady clashing of swords, grunts of exertion and yells of triumph or failure. Neither backed down. She was clearly outmatched, Leonardo was stronger, faster, heavier, and more familiar with his weapon.

Raphael watched as playfulness was replaced with cold determination. Her eyes remained a steady green so she wasn't angry...yet. All three brothers remained silent as the battle progressed. She stood there calmly, whereas Leonardo was covered in sweat and breathing hard. They hadn't seen Leonardo so worked up in a long time.

Leonardo looked focused, determined and slightly angry. Leonardo practiced his sword skills constantly, but it was usually with a cool focused determination. Raphael didn't think he had ever seen him fight a sparring match with this much...passion, was the only word he could think to describe the anger that had taken over his brother. This match wasn't about testing skills or winning. Raphael understood winning, but his brother didn't look like he just wanted to win, he looked like he wanted something else, but he couldn't seem to understand what it was.

Leonardo screamed as he charged her. She tipped her head to the side thinking something as he charged her. She quickly knelt, placed her swords on the ground and sprung up, charging him unarmed. If Leonardo was shocked or had any intention of ceasing his attack against his unarmed opponent he didn't show it.

"Leo!" He heard himself yell. He felt the adrenalin push through him as he tried to move to stop his brother.

His other brothers were shocked into immobility. She ducked his sword swing and grabbed him by the wrists as she twisted sliding between his legs. Leonardo flipped over landing hard on his shell. She rolled over and straddled him around the shoulders pulling her body backwards, which pulled his arms close to his body. The move seemed somehow erotic when she did it and Leonardo stilled as she yanked the swords from his grasp, crossed them and held them to his neck. Her face was an inch from Leonardo's face, lips almost touching. Something passed between them, then Leonardo glared angrily at her. "Enough?" She asked her voice devoid of any emotion.

Leonardo nodded and she stood. She offered him a hand up which he declined. She just shrugged and handed him swords back.

"Leo..." Raphael began, but she held up a hand. Leonardo picked up his other swords and walked wordlessly to his room and slamming the door shut.

"Wow, and I thought Raph was bad." Michelangelo commented.

"I haven't seen him that angry since before he went to see the Ancient One." Donatello commented.

"Look we're sorry about..." Raphael began. She looked distracted but held up a hand to silence him. She turned her attention back to the closed door.

He looked at his brothers. Then she turned her focus back to them and gave a half smile.

"How old are you anyway?" Michelangelo asked.

She blinked, surprised by the question. "I am Four thousand six hundred and twenty one." Stunned silence greeted this. "But I have memories stretching back around eight to nine thousand years ago, if not longer. Why are you so surprised?" She asked.

"That's incredible." Donatello said.

'That's really old." Michelangelo added. "You don't look that old."

"She's a goddess shell for brains, of course she doesn't look old." Raphael said hitting Michelangelo up the side of the head.

"You guys don't understand. Being that old would put her to being a goddess from the stone age, a Palaeolithic or Mesolithic goddess." Donatello said with awe.

"Do you have any idea what he is talking about?" Raphael asked Michelangelo. Michelangelo shook his head.

"If I was a goddess of this world then yes that would be true." She said to Donatello.

Donatello looked at her in confusion. "Many of the memories I have are from earth, but..." She stopped. "How can I explain this. I have been on my world for over 4000 years. I have memories of being on that world for much longer another four to five thousand years. I know there was a goddess of magic that existed on this world, but what happened to her is not known. I have a vague remembrance but..." She shrugged. "I can travel through time on Earth, but I cannot travel through time on my own world. So for example I last saw Lucifer about 4000 years ago, give or take a decade. However when I am now, for Lucifer it will have only been 198 years."

"Is it just me or is it really creepy that you just casually throw the Devil's name around like that?" Raphael asked.

"How can you have memories that aren't your own?" Donatello asked.

She smiled her secretive smile and winked. "That is a story for another time. I can hear stomachs growling. I believe it is dinner time."

Donatello and Michelangelo left to go dig up some grub leaving Raphael alone with the goddess. She watched his brothers leave and turned her attention back to him. He still hadn't gotten used to the full intensity of her moss green gaze.

"So..." He began. He felt awkward with her. She was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her. She drove him nuts most of the time. She had a very serious side, and yet at times she was playful and flirtatious. It was something that he wasn't used to dealing with. He was a giant mutated turtle, women that he could have a relationship, that wasn't just friendship, were non-existent. He was confused and didn't know what to think, if he should act on her flirtatious behaviour or if it was habit. He had only known her two weeks, but she made him laugh, and when she wasn't pissing him off she made him feel happy. But she was a _goddess! _What could a goddess want with a freak like him?

She looked at him with concern and he realized that he must have let some of what he was feeling show on his face. "You want to trade scar stories?" He finished lamely. He could have kicked himself after the words left his mouth.

She looked at him and shrugged. She stood in front of him and removed her cape letting the fabric whisper to the ground. She usually walked around with her wings wrapped around her body like a second cape. He realized then that he had never really got a good look at her whole body. She was petite and perfectly proportioned, with an hour glass figure that remained feminine even though you could see her muscles ripple when she moved. She had the body of a warrior.

He looked up at her as she pointed to a scar that bisected her body from hip to ribcage. All of her scars were delicate silver lines that were barely discernable. It was then that he noticed that the scars that had mirrored his own had disappeared.

"Disembowelled by a short sword." She began.

"Disembowelled! " He asked in shock. "As in..."

"Yes, as in bowels falling out disembowelled." She pointed to her legs where tiny circular scars covered her legs along with an inch long straight scar. "Zombie rats, goblin knife." She pointed to a bite mark on her shoulder.

"Werewolf." She turned around showing him her ass. Four claw marks bit into the flesh. "Weretiger." She turned around and pointed to her eye. "Lost the eye to the sword of an Utukku, basically a Babylonian demon." She moved on pointing to the slashes that ran through the right side of her face from eye to jaw. "Given by the goddess Iknet-Mah-Se-Ah to remind me of favours owed." She stopped there and he stood up, reached out and touched the only scars left. Two scars that looked like two X's were directly over her heart. She breathed in, her chest moving as she looked into his eyes, her hand covered his and he felt himself moving closer to her, body pressing against hers. Touching her was like touching a little piece of heaven. Her body was soft and velvety. He could feel her heart beating beneath his hand. She closed her eyes as if she was affected by his touch. "Two arrows, one shot from a friend, the other from an enemy. One shot out of love, the other shot out of hate." She whispered. When she opened her eyes blue had managed to trickle in around the very outside of the iris.

"This mortal body suffered much when it was still human." She stepped away from him pulling her cloak from the floor.

"What do you mean human?" Raphael asked confused by her words and already missing her touch.

"I am not a creation goddess Raphael. I cannot create something from nothing, therefore a suitable mortal body had to be found."

Questions began flying through his mind as the implications of what she was saying dawned on him. "What do you mean a suitable body, and why would you even want a mortal body?"

"Gods do not...feel as mortals do. They are incapable of feeling the depth and breadth of emotions that mortals feel. Mortal lives are short, so you burn brightly, experience more fully than any god could possibly ever comprehend. It is why some angels who have gained a mortal body cannot go back to being angels. They have felt the full spectrum of emotions that mortals are capable of. Love, hate, anger, jealousy, despair, every tiny emotion that they never experienced in Heaven. For gods it is the same. I have the ability to walk the mortal plain and experience all of the emotions that go with it. It is my greatest weakness as well as my greatest strength. If my body is killed I will die. The goddess or goddesses of Magic will still exist, but I will die, possible even cease to exist."

"To feel and to walk on the mortal plain, a mortal body was chosen, chosen hundreds of thousands of years ago. A mortal body with the pure soul of an innocent. Pure souls are very rare. To have a pure soul the human must have lived a pure life, in every life that they had. Reincarnated time and time again, and remaining innocent."

"What happened to this innocent?" He whispered.

She touched the scars over her heart. "She was slain."

"By you?" Raphael asked quietly.

She shook her head. "I told you how she died."

"So this woman managed to survive all of this damage?" He asked.

"She had the help of one of the men she loved. He was a vampire. Like my blood his held the ability to heal. She was able to survive much that should have killed her. But in the end when she was slain, he tried to bring her back, turn her into a vampire. It was a mistake he could never forgive himself for."

"What happened?" He asked, wrapped in the story of this unknown woman who had survived so much.

She looked at him and said. "I was resurrected into the form you see before you."

"But what happened to her, she just died?" He asked.

"She died, but her soul..." She shook her head.

"What happened to her soul?"

She looked at him, her eyes were the colour of a raging storm at sea. "Her soul was...damaged."

"Damaged, as in...?"

"Ripped asunder."

With that she turned on her heel and walked away, leaving the lair.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Michelangelo and Donatello returned bearing take-out Chinese food. Raphael has sat back down on the couch to process what the goddess had told him. Her body used to be that of a human woman, but it wasn't human anymore. But she hadn't said that it was she who had damaged the soul of the girl. It was too confusing.

He decided to sit down and tell his brothers her story. He talked with them over supper.

"It's like body snatching." Michelangelo said in his best scary movie voice.

"Raph this is very important. Do you remember her exact wording?" Donatello asked him. He shrugged.

"I guess so, which part?" He asked.

"The part where she said that she was resurrected into the body she is in now?"

Raphael nodded. "Resurrected, doesn't that mean she was dead?"

"That makes sense now." Donatello said poking at his food with his chopsticks. "Remember how she said that she was 4621 years old, but had memories going back another four to five thousand years. It probably means that something happened to her, maybe she was killed or injured badly enough that she was near death, and she was either brought back or was recovering and put into this girl's body, essentially resurrecting her into a mortal body. So she has inhabited her mortal body for 4621 years."

"She seemed sad about what happened to the girl." Raphael said.

"By her wording it sounds like she didn't want to be resurrected, but that events were set in motion that resulted in her being brought onto the mortal plain as she calls it." Donatello said.

"I still trust her Donny. I don't know what it is about her, but... I want to believe that she is...I don't know...real. I guess would be the best word I can used to describe her."

Donatello looked at him and nodded. "I know Raph."

They ate in silence for a little while. Finally Michelangelo asked. "Where do you suppose she goes?"

Raphael shrugged. "I'm not sure Mikey. I'm not sure it's any of our business."

"Maybe she's going out to eat." Michelangelo suggested.

"She would eat here if she needed to eat." Raphael said as he shifted himself off his chair and limped over to the couch.

"No she wouldn't Raph." Donatello said as he picked up the leftovers and jammed them into the fridge.

"Come on Donny our cooking isn't that bad." Raphael said defensively.

"She's a goddess Raph." Donatello said as if that explained everything. "Think about it, have you ever seen her use the bathroom, sleep, eat?"

'She takes showers." Raphael said to him.

"She takes showers because she's cold." Donatello said as he leaned against the counter.

"How do you know that Donny?" Raphael asked.

Donatello didn't meet his eyes. He shrugged and told him that they talked sometimes at night when he was working on his inventions. "She doesn't sleep, she's been helping me with the new shell cycle."

The news hit him somewhere in the region of his stomach. To think that Donatello was spending every night with her while he had been sleeping made him angry, and he wasn't sure why.

"She might be eating though." Michelangelo said in thought. Donatello and Raphael turned to him.

"She's a goddess, but don't forget, she's a blood sucking goddess." Michelangelo said as he made spooky oooo sounds and waggled his fingers.

"It's true, there are gods in many cultures that require blood to live, usually through sacrifices. Like the Aztec and Incan gods. Some Celtic gods required sacrifices too."

"Donny do you think she's..." He couldn't finish the sentence. Donatello looked concerned and then shrugged. "I suppose we could ask her, but I haven't seen a string of vampire-like killings or attacks on the news."

"But there is something I have to show you guys. Come check this out." He said motioning them to his computer. "She had told us the story of her sword the one with the blue glow, _Morte Morosus. _Well remember how she had said it was given to her by Persephone, well check this out." He said excitedly as he pulled up two images on his screen. "Her sword is a Kopis sword, used by the Spartans in Greece. And her other sword..."

"The creepy one?" Michelangelo asked.

"That one, _Cuthach Fuilteach. _The name is in Gaelic. And check out this Pictish sword. It's not quite the same, but obviously based on the same design. It means that what she told us about the swords is probably true."

"I thought you believed her story?" Raphael asked , anger lacing his words.

Donatello looked at him. "I do. This is for Leo." He said softly.

Michelangelo walked over to Leonardo's door and knocked. "Hey Leo!" He called. He tried a second time and when there was no answer he opened the door and peeked inside. Michelangelo looked confused. "He's gone."

The brothers looked at him in confusion.

Leonardo watched Michelangelo look into his room. He had listened to his brother's conversation. If she was out there feeding on people he had to stop her. He was suspicious of what it was she was doing when she left the lair. She always disappeared at mealtimes and it was time for him to find out what she was doing and expose her to his brothers.

He snuck out of the lair and followed her, hoping he hadn't left too late. He had paused when he heard his brother's conversation. He was angry. He was angry he couldn't protect his family from this woman who was obviously up to something. She had managed to integrate herself right into the middle of his family and his brothers couldn't even recognize the danger. He just couldn't figure out what it was that she wanted from them. He hoped that by following her he could find out.

He ran the night darkened rooftops of his city and finally spotted her in the air. She was circling buildings, getting as low to the street as she could without being seen. It looked like she was looking for something.

She landed in an alley, pulled up her hood and wrapped her wings around her body. She pulled her cloak in tight and exited the alley. She walked a few buildings down and stopped in front of a rundown psychic shop. She stopped outside the door and sniffed the air. She turned and began walking down the sidewalk again. Humans passed her and she didn't pause as she walked. There were a few times where a single human turned down an alley and she could have followed them but she didn't. She was still smelling the air as she walked. A few shops down she stopped again and looked at the sign on the door. It was a used book store. It didn't look like there was anyone inside except for the sales clerk, who was probably the owner. He was an old man who greeted her as she walked in. She pulled her hood back enough so that the man could see her face. She began talking to him and he led her to the back of the store.

Leonardo cursed as he lost sight of them. He debated if he should try to enter the shop or just wait. He didn't have time to decide as they both appeared again. He handed her something in a paper bag and she exited the shop giving the old man a friendly wave as she left. She began walking down the street again. Leonardo leapt down from his rooftop perch and looked in the window of the shop. The old man appeared to be unharmed. He remembered what Raphael and Donatello were like when she had fed off them and the old man showed no signs of being bitten.

He looked down the street and saw her duck into an alley. He followed her as she took to the rooftops and from there leapt off the building taking to the air again.

She flew a large circumference around the lair, never landing again until she landed on the roof of Belvedere Castle. She looked at the water that covered their lair. He stepped out of the shadows, her ears flicked showing him that she knew he was there.

"So what, you go for a nice little sight-seeing tour of the city when we eat." He said with a sneer.

"Why is it your scent?" She asked him, her attention focused on the lake leaning against the castle's ledge.

"What?" He asked caught off guard by the question.

She looked at him over her shoulder, eyes sultry. "Why is it you smell better to me than your brother's? You all smell good, but your scent for some reason is more intoxicating to me." She looked back at the lake. He remained silent as too many emotions warred with each other."I was patrolling, not sightseeing. I was looking for demons." She said turning towards him, crossing her arms and legs, and leaning back against the wall. "I found a few scents but I couldn't trace them."

"Was that why you stopped at the psychic shop and the book store." He asked curious of how she would react to finding that he had followed her.

She smiled, was silent a moment then pushed herself away from the wall. "The psychic had a little bit of Talent, I was curious how much, but she was not that powerful, her small amount of magic called to me." She shrugged then turned serious.

"The good and bad news is that the demons whose scents I could smell are non corporeal, which basically means they don't have a body, which means they are probably riding a human. If I could find one of these possessed humans I could get information from it, but all of the scents were old, which is the other good news. It basically means no one has come near the lair. The bad news is there were a lot of demon scents which means that a large number of demons are on the ground and I don't know whose side they are working for. I am going to have to track down one of these demons." She said in thought.

"And the book store." He said crossing his arms across his chest.

"Oh right I almost forgot." She pulled the paper bag from beneath her cloak and he had to stop his mind from wandering to where she had possibly put it. "I noticed that you liked reading. This is one of my favourites if not my favourite. I know it might seem a little girly, but it's a Classic. Even my brother..." She began, but furrowed her brow in confusion. She shook her head and handed him the bag. He looked at it in surprise and opened the bag. Inside was a only slightly worn paperback copy of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin.

"You haven't read it have you?" She asked.

He shook his head from side to side. Then asked, "You never mentioned a family before, I didn't know you had a brother."

A stricken look passed over her face as her eyes began to trickle blue. "I don't." She said softly turning away from him.

"What happened?" He found himself asking.

She looked back over at the lake. "The one I was talking about, died I suppose, a long time ago." She said deep in thought. Her eyes were the shade of the sea during a storm. Then she tipped her head thinking. "Although I suppose that is not completely true. Where I stand in my world during my time, he is dead, here in this time and in this place, he yet lives, they all yet live." She said as if she wasn't sure what emotion she should feel as sadness warred with confusion.

He tried to process this then gave up. "So your family is alive right now?" He asked in confusion. "But where you are from they died a long time ago?"

Her brow furrowed in confusion again. "No, I have no family."

"That makes no sense at all!" He said in frustration. He then realized that he was beginning to feel sorry for her. She was starting to affect him like his brothers. "My brother was almost, no, _was _killed because of you. I almost lost him. Don't expect me to feel sorry for, you, or try to even understand what the Hell you are talking about!" As soon as the words left his lips he wished he could take them back. He didn't know what he expected, he had expected possibly rage. He had seen how quick to anger she was and he knew he had just crossed the line. He could work with rage. Her rage would make him be able to remember not to feel sorry for her, not to_ feel _anything for her.

She closed her eyes and took a breath. When she opened her eyes they were still the colour of a stormy sea . "I suppose you are correct. It is my fault that Raphael has suffered as he has. A situation revolving around me coalesced to create the circumstances whereby your brother happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I will take that blame." She paused and then looked away from him.

"You don't know how lucky you are Leonardo." She said in a whisper. "Never forget how important your family is, because sometimes, they are gone too soon." She said as she seemed to gather herself from whatever thoughts she was contemplating. A tear escaped and trickled down her cheek leaving a pink tinged trail down her alabaster skin. She wiped at the tear and looked at it in confusion as if she wasn't sure why it was there. She made to walk past him. He found himself reaching out and stopping her. "Is that a threat?" He asked dangerously.

She looked startled. "Just a commentary on life from an ancient being Leonardo." She walked to the edge of the castle and leapt onto the ledge. "I hope you read the book Leonardo, it really is one of my favourites." She said with a shaky smile. She turned and leapt off the edge.

He walked to the ledge and watched her fly towards the lair. She was going back to help with Raphael, it was getting late and Raphael had probably already went to bed. This thought bothered him. He_ knew_ she was going back to the lair to help Raphael. So if he knew this, why did he still not want to trust her? Why did he still not want to believe her tears and even try to unravel the convoluted remarks she sometimes gave.

He turned and sunk down onto the cold stone. But even so her story didn't make any sense. How could an ancient goddess have family living now, but not in the past? He looked down at the book in his hands and felt a new stab of guilt. She had noticed that he enjoyed reading. And she had bought him a book. He opened the book and flipped it to the first page.

When Leonardo finally returned to the lair it was quiet, oddly still and quiet. He looked in on Raphael and reacted with horror to a blood splattered room. Gore marred the walls, of his brother's body there was no sign. He ran from the room and went in turn to each of his brothers rooms finding all in the same condition as Raphael's. Leonardo couldn't breathe. He felt dizzy, sick and his world was spinning. He heard laughter in the darkness. Swords drawn he approached the darkened corner of the Lair where a Syna was gnawing on the bones and flesh of his brothers. It was laughing at him in a deep throaty whisper. "You should not have killed her Leonardo. She was the only thing that stood between you and us." The Syna hissed. Hundreds of Shadow Glides peeled themselves from the shadows as he screamed in terror. Leonardo woke up with a start. The book she had given him fell to the ground. The cool night air brushed by him. He looked around shook himself off and headed home.

When he returned to the lair he found Raphael waiting up for him. He was seated at the table a glass of water in front of him. "So how did your little spying expedition go? Was she tearing out the throats of New Yorkers everywhere? Raining down death and destruction as she went?" He said angrily. "Is she here?" He asked instead. "She's here, with eyes the colour of a raging sea. What the hell did you say to her Leo!" He said getting angrily to his feet. "I screwed up, okay Raph!"He said hotly. "No you didn't Leonardo." The goddess said quietly. She smiled a soft smile at him. "I understand." And Leonardo knew she did, knew that she understood _him. _She smiled then. She then turned to Raphael and gave him a smile that lit up her face and eyes. It was the type of smile that made men move heaven and earth and go to war, just to make sure that that smile was given to him and only him. The blue of her eyes grew so bright and so intense, added with the green ring that surrounded her pupil, it was like looking into the depths of a glacial sea. But that smile wasn't for him, that smile was for Raphael. Raphael looked stunned. "There is a show I want you to watch with me Raphael, I think you are going to love it!" She grabbed him by the arm and began to lead him to the couch. "They match up all these warriors from different time periods, and they test out the lethality of their weapons, then they run a simulation to see who would win." She looked over her shoulder at him, tipped her head to the side. "Are you coming Leonardo?" She asked. Leonardo shook his head because he didn't think he would be able to speak. "Michelangelo, Donatello, come here you have to see this show!" She waved his brothers over, smile bright. His brothers smiled back. That smile was for all of his brothers, all except him.

Later that night the goddess confronted him as he was walking from the kitchen. Raphael's room had been silent and he didn't know where the goddess was until he quite literally walked into her. It was like walking into a brick wall. For someone so small there should have been some give, hell he should have knocked her down, instead he came to a sudden stop and almost fell himself. She reached out an hand and caught him before he could fall.

"I have been thinking Leonardo. I think that you and I should play a game." She said looking at him. He looked at her confused. A strange awareness of her presence rolled over him as he realized that she was alone with him.

"I would think there would be a warning in there somewhere about 'not playing games with the gods.'" He growled at her trying to stamp down whatever feeling was trying to take possession of him.

She laughed quietly and the laughter rolled down his skin like velvety chocolate. "Very good Leonardo, you are learning." She smiled flirtatiously at him. "But in this case you are perfectly safe from me. I propose a game of quotes."

"What?" He asked.

"You read a great deal. I have watched you, and you seem to be the only one of your brothers who reads extensively. And I don't count the magazines that Raphael reads or the comics that Michelangelo reads, or even the science articles that Donatello reads." Leonardo was silent. "So here is my proposition. We will trade quotes, I will give you a quote taken from your collection of books, and you will tell me the title and author of the book. If you get it right I will answer a question, if you get it wrong I ask you a question of my own, no lying of course. Then we will switch and you pick to quote, same rules apply. And there are also two conditions, no googling and no quotes like 'and she said to him' or something ridiculous. Do we have a game?" She asked holding out a hand.

Leonardo thought about her offer. He could finally get some straight answers out of her, but what could she possibly gain? He looked at her outstretched hand with misgiving. He took it anyway and shook it. Electricity ran down his arm as awareness of her coursed through him.

"Come, we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill and I cannot be responsible." She said to him."I shall seek your answer tomorrow night." With that she turned a left the kitchen walking towards Donatello's work room.

"Wait, how do you even know what books I own?" He asked. All of his books were in his room. The thought that she may have been snooping in his room made him angry.

"One night Michelangelo gave me a stack of books. He said they were from your room. He thought I might be bored at night. I thanked him and told him that I couldn't read your books without your permission. He put them back and I had thought to ask your permission, but you don't seem to like me very much and I did not think you would let me borrow them anyway, so I did not ask."

Shame burned through him that he was acting so inhospitable towards her, but he couldn't help it. He opened his mouth, but she was suddenly in front of him pressing a finger to his lips. "Do not offer what you do not wish to." She whispered to him, then she was gone like an alluring phantasm disappearing into the night.

He spent the next day looking at his books wondering which book she could have chosen the quote from. He had quite a few classics mixed in with some more modern fiction and a few mysteries thrown in for good measure. The wording sounded more classic, so he perused anything of a classical nature. She had given him enough clues, but trying to find one line in a novel was almost impossible.

She spent the day with Raphael stretching and working at gently moving his muscles. She said she had overestimated the amount of healing that had occurred and that he was banned from moving too fast, and even going near his heavy bag or any of the training tools or dummies they had set up. Raphael was furious. Leonardo could hear him screaming from his bedroom. He shook his head.

By dinner time he had given up and instead worked on finding a quote that she could not answer. He also realized that to be fair he would have to invite her into his bedroom to peruse his books.

"I've given up." He said to her after she returned to the lair from her nightly patrol. She looked at him in shock. "Also to be fair you can have a look at my books and borrow any you wish to read." She tipped her head to the side.

"Thank you Leonardo, you actually mean that." She said with a blazing smile.

He was staggered by her smile as he stepped back and she walked in front of him to his room.

As he walked behind her he decided this was a bad idea. There was something too intimate about having her in his room. His room seemed small and confined and he watched as she tucked her wings in tightly. She no longer wore her cape or any of her armour or swords. So his breath caught in his throat as she bent over looking at the lower shelves. Her tail was moving slowly from side to side. She picked out a book, stood, and began flipping through the pages. She turned the book to him and showed him the quote she had picked. It was Edgar Allen Poe's _The Cask of Amontillado. _He braced himself for her question. He had a pretty good idea of the question she was going to ask so it shocked him to no end when she asked him, "Is your favourite colour really blue?"

"Yes?" He answered it as a question. "Really that's your question?"

"What, you were expecting a different question?" She asked him.

He looked at her in shock then said. "_It is a matter of life and death, a road to either safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which on no account be neglected."_

_"The Art of War, _by Sun Tzu." She said easily. "Come Leonardo you will have to do better than that." She said with a smile. "Favourite movie?"

He rolled his eyes. "You are going to know every quote I throw at you aren't you, then you are going to ask me stupid questions."

She tipped her head to the side assessing him. "No I do not know every book you have, but _The Art of War, _I am a warrior Leonardo, I know the book, I have read the original text. I also happen to know it is your favourite. It is so worn and battered it shows me that you have read it many more times than any other book you own. As for inane questions, I do not think that knowing you better is inane." She said with a smile. "I will give you a gimmie on that one. Find another quote for me."

Raphael slouched in the doorway arms crossed, barely contained anger radiating off of him. "Hey Leo, watcha doin'" He said menacingly.

She smiled at Raphael, his anger not bothering her one bit. "Hello Raphael, Leonardo was showing me his collection of books and we were playing a game involving book quotes."

"That better be all he was showing you." He growled.

"What else would he be showing me?" She asked innocently. She stood there waiting as Raphael's anger grew. It was then he realized he was waiting for his answer to her question.

"Hero" He said to her. She smiled at him.

"Good movie." She said as she took Raphael's arm and led him away. She looked back at him, face now unreadable.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Two weeks turned into a month. Raphael was still having nightmares, not every night, but still several times a week, and the toll of not actually getting any rest was beginning to wear on him, as well as the rest of them, since they couldn't sleep either.

Leonardo forced himself to be there for every nightmare that Raphael suffered. Sometimes his bouts were violent, sometimes they were quiet, more full of despair. He had no memory of the nightmares and Leonardo was determined that no one would tell him. During the day Raphael seemed fine, more angry that he couldn't recover physically from his wounds. But sometimes he would catch him jump or freeze, a frightened look on his face when there was a particular sound. He didn't want to add to Raphael's burden by letting him know that during the night he was wracked with fear, and that the goddess saw him this way.

He knew that Raphael's feelings towards the goddess had been getting stronger. He wasn't sure if Raphael was aware of the way he looked at her. Leonardo didn't trust her, he feared her. He had watched as his brothers, all of them seemed to fall under her spell. But he couldn't figure out a way to free them from her.

He had followed her time and again at random and each time he had come back empty handed as to what she was really up to, what she really wanted from them.

* * *

"AAARRRGGGHHH!" Raphael screamed. "It's been a month and I am no further to being any better. Raphael dropped one of his sai as he punched, his arm cramping. "If anything I'm getting worse!"

Donatello and Michelangelo all looked at Leonardo who was watching Raphael as he punched his heavy bag. The goddess was out so it was just the four of them. "Calm down Raph."Leonardo said.

"Yeah if the goddess finds out you were practicing, she's going to have your head." Michelangelo warned with a grin on his face. "And here I thought she had Raph too whipped to ever disobey her." He continued.

"Take that back Mikey!" Raph warned him.

"Whatever Mikey, you let her borrow your special limited edition, first ever printing, never been opened Silver Sentry #1, and let her open it. You shouldn't be bugging Raph in any way about being whipped." Donatello said with a smile.

"She really wanted to read it." Michelangelo said defensively, with a blush.

"Yeah this coming from the guy who let her redesign the new shell cycle. Have you seen that thing!" Raphael's face grew serious."I think it's time you two backed off." Raphael growled at Donatello and Michelangelo.

"I don't see why you think you have any claim on her Raph" Donatello said angrily.

"Yeah Raph." Michelangelo said.

"Yeah well let me tell you guys something..." Raphael began.

"How about you telling me why you seem to be punching your heavy bag Raphael, after I expressly told you not to." A voice that felt like silk slid down Raphael's back.

Michelangelo laughed. "Busted!"

Amber eyes glared at Raphael and he looked angrily at his brothers. "I'm just so pissed off!" Raphael shouted. "I'm not getting any better, I'm worse! I can't move as fast, I can barely keep myself standing for long periods of time and don't even get me started about my arm which has begun to cramp up every single time I use it!" He yelled. "And I'm so damn tired. I can barely make it out of bed in the morning. Staying up during the day nearly kills me, and if I could I would crawl into bed right after supper!" The goddess stared at him silently for a few seconds.

Leonardo jumped down from the ledge he was sitting on and walked past her. She put a hand on Leonardo's chest stopping him. Leonardo closed his eyes. She looked at him, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. He tried to pass but she held him. Raphael saw red. "Leonardo you need to stay for this." She dropped her hand and walked over to Raphael who could barely breathe. "Raphael, breathe, your anger is spilling out." She looked up at him. "I'm sorry I did not heal you better Raphael." She said in a voice filled with regret. She traced his scars, looking at him with storm blue eyes. "If I had been faster, smarter, something, maybe I could have stopped the Syna before it had even managed to attack you. Then you wouldn't be dealing with the consequences of my actions." She looked at her hand. "And I wouldn't be powerless." She clenched her hand into a fist.

Raphael felt his anger drain away. He grabbed her hand and looked down at her. "If that would have happened, if you had of stopped the Syna before it killed me, then what?"

"I would have disappeared. You would have woke up suffering the effects of a half remembered dream. You never would have known me, you never would have known you had been killed, you wouldn't be trying to fight and have the failure of your inability to do so heaped upon you day after day." She said softly.

Raphael was silent for a moment then nodded. He gave his sais to her and said, "If the price I have to pay for having met you is for me to never fight again, I'll pay that price." He whispered to her. He turned and walked away.

"What just happened." Michelangelo asked.

"I think Raphael just quit" Donatello said in shock.

"A price like that is too high and I am not worth that price Raphael." She said softly. "You don't get to quit yet Raphael. A warrior only gets to quit when he is dead. And I know you are a warrior Raphael. You will heal. One way or another you will heal." There was an edge in her voice, a warning. But somehow Raphael didn't think the warning was aimed at him. He stopped and turned to her. She looked at him steadily, then turned to his brothers. "I have picked up a few fresh demon scents. They are not close to the lair, but just the fact that there are as many as I picked up means something big is starting to happen, and I might finally be able to track one of these demons down." She walked over to Leonardo. "I want you to be careful when you are following me." She said to him softly as she touched his shoulder. He flinched away from her touch. If this bothered her she didn't show it. Instead she walked up behind Raphael and reached around him. She slid his Sais back in his belt. "You will need these Raphael." She turned back around and was surprised by Leonardo who was gripping her arm tightly. She looked at him. "I see." Was all she said. Leonardo released her arm.

"Leo what the..?" Raphael asked in shock. They both moved to the center of the training area. Leonardo drew his katanas, while she stood opposite of him unarmed. Leonardo threw a Katana at her and she deftly caught it. She bowed and he bowed in return. They were silent as they fought each other, only the clash of metal upon metal could be heard.

"What's Leo so worked up about?" Michelangelo asked in confusion. Raphael looked at his brother and shrugged. Leonardo had been so touchy and angry. He and the goddess seemed to have some kind of game going on which, judging by Leonardo's anger, he was losing. Leonardo never liked to lose, hell he didn't think any of his brothers like to lose. She was letting Leonardo work off his anger, he could see it. Instead of helping, Leonardo's rage was growing. She backed up but she was too close to the wall. Leonardo hit her hard slamming her against the hard stone. Sword a hairs breath from her neck. Raphael's heart stopped. She was gripping Leonardo's hand stopping him from pushing the sword any closer to her neck. Raphael was about to shout at him when he noticed her sword was blocking the strike as well as her holding his hand back. She pushed Leonardo's sword up and she slid down the wall ducking between his legs. He turned quickly and kicked out at her. She dodged but Leonardo pushed himself harder trying to be faster, to match even her mortal speed. She had been getting better, stronger and faster by sparing with Leonardo so often. As a result Leonardo had to push himself even harder to try to beat her, because even though she had been at a disadvantage to begin with, she had yet to lose.

It was then that he saw Leonardo land wrong. Leonardo was so surefooted, he didn't think he had ever seen Leonardo make a wrong move. The goddess seen it as well and reached out to stop him. Leonardo corrected his footing but Raphael could see he had hurt himself. But instead of stopping he pushed on. She blocked his sword as she quickly pulled back the offered arm. Grimly she fought on until Leonardo was dripping in sweat, let out a breath and collapsed. "Leo!" Donatello and Michelangelo yelled.

She looked at Leonardo, her face oddly emotionless, as if whatever she was feeling she didn't want to share. "Idiot." She grumbled as she knelt down, picked him up with one arm and heaved him over her shoulder. It was still disconcerting to realize that she was really just that strong. She walked with Leonardo and dropped him onto his bed. She was looking at him with an expression Raphael couldn't identify. Anger and worry mixed together. She looked at the leg he had landed on wrong. She squeezed it through Leonardo's pants. Leonardo woke up and screamed. "Idiot." She said to him. She turned away from him as Leonardo fell back into unconsciousness. "He's torn his hamstring. Other than that he'll be fine." She said angrily. She strode from Leonardo's room.

"Where are you going?" Raphael asked.

"Out." Was all she replied.

* * *

Leonardo spent the rest of the afternoon icing his leg and beating himself up for not stretching before trying to go at it with the goddess. He was just so angry at himself for believing that he was smart enough, fast enough, and stealthy enough to follow her without her knowing. If she knew he was following her, every time he followed her of course he wouldn't ever catch her doing anything that he could bring back to his brothers. He was also angry at himself for wanting her touch, craving it so badly his body burned for it. But she touched Raphael the same way, and he knew she was just playing with them, all of them, because how could she really feel anything for them? The only thing he could think about was hurting her in some way.

So he and Raphael were stuck on the couch for the rest of the day, miserable in each other's company because he wouldn't, couldn't tell Raphael why he was so angry, he barely understood it himself. "Hey Leo, is there something you want to tell me bro?" Raphael asked in a deadly voice. "You seem to be unusually angry lately."

"I don't trust her Raph. We can't confirm anything she's told us. Everything she tells us is like a riddle or a puzzle where most of the pieces are missing and none of it makes any sense! And I am sick and tired of watching you guys make idiots of yourselves for someone who is just going to leave when she is done with us! You heard her Raph, the only reason she is still here isn't because of us, it's because she literally can't leave!" Leonardo yelled. He struggled angrily to his feet.

"Do you think Leo's right?" Michelangelo asked.

"Of course he's right. She wouldn't be here, but she _is_ here, we just have to convince her that maybe it would be a nice place to stay." Raphael said quietly.

"I think we have begun to forget that she is a goddess, thousands of years old. What would a being like that want with us?" Donatello asked.

"Thank you Donatello, finally a voice of reason!" Leonardo said angrily as he began to limp to his room.

"But when she leaves, even when it is just for a little while, it feels like...even though the lair is still full of us, it's somehow...empty." Michelangelo said sadly.

Leonardo closed his eyes against the feelings that Michelangelo's words struck within him. He spent the rest of the night in his room trying to do something with his leg. He looked up and saw the goddess standing in his doorway looking at him arms crossed leaning against his door frame. "Get out." He growled. She pushed herself off the frame, walked into his room, closed the door and locked it behind her.

"And to think I thought you were a definite brief man." Leonardo looked down at himself and found a blush spreading across his face. He was leaning against his headboard in nothing but his boxers.

"What do you want?" He tried to sound angry but it came out more uncertain. There was a quiet menace about her. Even though he knew she was powerful and strong, and dangerous she never seemed to feel threatening. But now she felt hostile. She seemed to shake the menace from her like a cat twitching water off its fur.

"To help you." She said with a slight edge to her voice. "You should have stopped when you pulled your hamstring, but no, you had to keep fighting until you not only managed to tear it, but you fought yourself into exhaustion. And I am not looking for an explanation so you can close your mouth right now. I know what your answer will be so we will just skip that whole conversation and we will instead pick up on the part where I tell you to lie back, let me see, and you actually let me." He opened his mouth to protest but she was already sitting on the bed pulling his leg up. He tried not to scream but a soft cry escaped.

"Try not to yell too loud Leonardo, or else your brothers may come running, and I do not think that they will appreciate the position we would appear to be in." He glared at her as she felt his muscle, and sighed. She began to massage his leg and although it hurt she was gentle. The pain slowly faded to a dull ache as she ran her deft hands over the entirety of his thigh. He finally began to relax. She began moving down to his calf and he almost groaned. She stopped and he opened his eyes. She wasn't looking at his face but rather she began massaging his other leg, repeating what she had with the first. When she had finished with his legs she moved up to his shoulders and massaged down the length of both arms. He looked at her and found her face very close to his own. She wasn't looking at him instead she was concentrating on her task. He then realized that she was sitting right between his legs, breasts almost scraping against his chest. Awareness blazed through him.

"You really find it hard to believe that I could be attracted to your brothers don't you? You think I am just playing with them to what, pass the time until I can finally get away from this place?" She asked him, finally looking at him. She sat back giving him room to breathe again.

"How could you be? Look at us." Anger dripped from every word. She tipped her head to the side and studied him. She pulled her wings in tight the turned her back to him. She slid closer to him until she was leaning against his chest. He stopped breathing. He didn't trust her as far as he could throw her, which was absolutely impossible unless she let him. He just had to remind his body of that.

She held out an arm in front of her. "Hold up your arm Leonardo." He did as she bid. "What do you see?" "Two arms. One green the other white." He said rolling his eyes. She spread her hand showing all five delicate fingers. He copied her.

"One hand with five fingers the other with three. Is there a point to this?" She spread her leg against his uninjured one letting her arm fall. She leaned over and pulled off her boot. "Two legs, two feet, five toes, two toes."

"So far it does not seem like we are so different." She turned back around and faced him. "Two arms, two legs, two hands two feet and the number of digits is inconsequential, at least to me." She touched his face. "Eyes, face, mouth, chin..." She said touching each in turn. "Neck, chest." She stopped at his chest. She knocked on his shell. "24/7 body armour. Heart, lungs, stomach." She traced a finger down each plain of his shell. He cursed that he couldn't feel a single bit of what she was doing, but just watching her was starting to drive him crazy. She stopped at the edge of his boxers. "And well, you're a guy, which makes _that_ different. And since you and most of your brothers have already seen me naked, I will then go out on a limb and assume that we would be physically compatible."

Leonardo didn't know if she wanted him to answer her because he couldn't think and couldn't breathe and the blood that normally resided in his brain seemed to have deserted him for another region of his anatomy. He clenched his teeth as he tried to get his body under control. This was exactly how she had managed to get his brothers. She stood up and got off the bed. He didn't know whether to be sorry or relieved. "I find all of you beautiful." She tipped her head to the side. "Or I guess handsome? Since guys hate being called beautiful." She said with a shrug. "Why should you be so surprised at I finding you all attractive. I could say the same about you. Why would you find me attractive?"

He looked at her with surprise. "But you're..." He didn't want to say it, he didn't want to tell her she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. "Very human looking. Not all creatures find humans to be attractive." She said with a smile. "And what about the bits that aren't human. I have a pair of dragon wings;" She turned around looking over her shoulder at him, "A dragon tail." She said moving her tail back and forth. He found the movement of her tail more seductive than anything even nearing repulsive. She turned back towards him. "And let us not forget the kitty-cat ears." She said ears twitching. She threw her head back and brought all of her hair onto the top of her head. He had never seen her wear her waist length hair up, but it was true that where a human set of ears should be, there were none. It looked somehow wrong. She let the hair fall back down.

"See, somewhere in the back of your mind you thought that there just had to be a human pair of ears there, even if it wouldn't make any sense." She gave a half smile. "So why should I believe that you find me any more attractive than I find you?" He opened his mouth to reply but found there was nothing he could say. She walked back to his bed and sat down between his legs. She leaned in close to him. He tried moving back as far as he could, but part of him didn't want to. She reached out and touched his chest, tracing the contour of his shell. He knew what his skin felt like, dry and leathery. He knew the harsh roughness of his shell. His hands were badly calloused and rough and yet he wanted to place them on her body which looked like it would feel like the softest satin. She leaned into him. She took a deep breath. "Why do you smell so good to me Leonardo? Why is it your scent that makes me want to cover myself with it?" She asked him with half closed eyes. He didn't reply. His heart was beating too fast in his chest. He grabbed her around her waist to push her back, but found instead that his hands wanted to feel more of the satin that her skin seemed to be made up of. He remembered the first instance when she had fought him when she had slid down his body disarming him. "Do you find me attractive Leonardo?" She whispered into his ear.

"No." He managed to choke out. He let go of her waist but his hands ached to touch her again.

"Liar." She said to him as she pulled away from him getting off the bed. She smiled and walked to his door. She unlocked it pulled it open a little, grabbed something, then pulled it gently closed. She turned to him and walked back towards the bed. She was holding a small bag of some sort. "I managed to find everything I needed, thank the gods for China Town. Not only did they carry almost everything I needed, most stores were open quite late."

"What are you doing?" He asked as she opened the bag. She pulled out a roll of bandages and a small jar.

"I already told you, helping you. Now bend your leg up, and try not to jump too much when Raphael comes crashing through your door." She unscrewed the jar's lid.

"What!" He yelped as his door burst open as Raphael barged in. He was reclining on his bed pretty much naked with the goddess partially on the bed leaning over his lower body. From Raphael's point of view it would look like she was... He went completely red as he saw anger and betrayal burn through Raphael's eyes. He opened his mouth to protest his innocence when the smell hit him and he gagged. It was the most awful smell he had ever been subjected to in his life.

Raphael took two angry steps into the room then stopped, his anger turning to disgust. "What the..?" He asked covering his nose.

"No, don't you dare!" Leonardo yelled as he tried to move his leg out of the way as she smeared whatever the vile concoction was on his leg.

"This will help Leonardo, otherwise you won't be fighting for months. This will repair your torn muscle within days." Leonardo shook his head. He didn't think it was worth it. "Do you think it smells more like rotten eggs or dead skunk?" She asked. Leonardo shook his head. To answer would mean he would have to breathe. "I was going for dead skunk." Leonardo nodded his head. "You guys are such babies." She said looking over at Raphael, whose rage still burned in his eyes, but had been tempered with disgust.

"What is that?" Raphael managed to choke out.

"Poultice." She said as she brought out a piece of moss from the bag. She put the piece of moss over where she had covered his leg with the poultice. "The moss has healing properties as well, but will also counteract the smell." She wrapped his leg in the linen bandage. She put the lid on the jar and the smell got better until all you could smell was her, and the faint scent of the woods after a rainfall. She stood up and walked out of the room.

"This is the second time she has been alone with you in your room Leo." Raphael growled.

"Don't think anything is going on between us Raph." Leonardo said angrily. "I don't trust her, and I think you guys are idiots for thinking that she..." He stopped what he was going to say, because it would be a lie. "She wants something Raph, just you wait and see. I'm not going to let a pretty piece of tail distract me from the fact that she is dangerous." He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Just because she had rattled him didn't mean that he had to let it get the better of him.

Raphael clenched his fists. "What did you just say." Raphael whispered. His anger and rage were growing.

"He said I was a pretty piece of tail." The goddess said walking back into his room. "Everything he said is completely true. He doesn't trust me, I do want something, I am a pretty piece of tail and I am dangerous." She said laughing.

"He just..." Raphael began. "Is hurt and cranky. So are you. What, you think you are any better?" She said poking him in the chest. "Get some rest Leonardo. And you too Raphael. In fact I should put some of this on you and see if it helps any." She said looking at him speculatively.

Revulsion replaced Raphael's anger. "No way!" "It only smells for a little bit, besides you have never actually shown me your room." She said in a low voice, leading him away.

Leonardo looked at their retreating figures and it struck him that she really couldn't lie. If she had told Raphael that she had never been in his room, it would have been a lie. By saying that Raphael had never shown her his room, it made it _seem _like she had only been in there the one time during his first nightmare, but in actuality she had been in there many times while she attempted to hold him down as he thrashed in his bed. Leonardo hit his head against his headboard. It didn't change anything. She had admitted outright that she wanted something. He just had to figure out what it was.

* * *

Michelangelo watched as the goddess led Raphael from Leonardo's room. Raphael looked back and glared at Leonardo through his door. "It makes my blood boil, I don't like..." Raphael paused as she looked at him eyebrow raised in question. "...what he called you." He finished lamely. It was obvious that he had changed what he was going to say, which anyone who had been watching Raphael this last month, would know that Raphael was having jealousy issues. Raphael's anger wasn't anything new, but the possessiveness with which he treated the goddess was definitely new, and he didn't even think Raphael even knew the way he was acting.

She shrugged. "So he called me a nice piece of tail, I've been called worse." She said with a laugh. Raphael's gaze blazed with anger.

Michelangelo looked at Leonardo's room in shock. He had really called her that? No wonder Raphael was angry. In fact he wasn't very impressed either. "Raphael, you have to cut him some slack, I am not bothered by it so why should you be? If he had actually meant it I would be angry, but he didn't mean it. Come on, time to try this on you, and if I so much as see you move out of your bed tomorrow, I will tie you to it."

"Yeah, I'd like to see you try." Raphael said defiantly. A militant look entered her eyes as they walked into Raphael's bedroom. A few minutes later Raphael was yelling again. "That is the most gods awful..." Raphael began.

Curiosity got the better of Michelangelo and he wandered over to Raphael's door. The smell coming from the room was the most horrid stench he had ever smelled. "Raphael if you don't stop moving around I am going to let you go sans the moss, and you can try to wash it off, but believe me when I say, you even try and the smell gets worse." She said with a vicious smile. Raphael stopped moving and glared as she rubbed some sort of grey mixture on his arm and thigh, then began wrapping it up with a calm efficiency.

Michelangelo laughed. "Wow Raph, I know I always tell you how much you stink, but man, you didn't have to try so hard to prove me right."

"You just come over here and say that Mikey." Raphael threatened in a low voice. He laughed and walked away. His smile disappeared as he peeked in on Leonardo. His brother was already asleep. "What's wrong with you Leo?" He whispered to himself.

He decided to go and listen to some music in his room for a while. He looked at the clock on his bedside table and decided to go to bed. He got up stretched and walked to the bathroom. Someone had obviously left the light on. Michelangelo shrugged, went to the sink and began brushing his teeth. He caught a movement in the mirror and turned around quickly. Sitting in the tub, eyes closed was the goddess. She opened an eye and looked at him. "Do you need to use the bathroom Michelangelo?" She asked. Michelangelo shook his head mouth full of minty toothpaste. She reclosed her eye and lay there. She had obviously been there awhile because the bubbles she had put in the tub were almost nonexistent. She suddenly stood up. Water ran down the curves of her body as she grabbed a towel from the side of the tub. "I'll get out of your way Michelangelo." She said as she snagged her clothes from the floor and began dressing.

"No...it's...I..." He stammered out as he watched each movement as she got dressed. She looked at him. "You're drooling Michelangelo." She said with a smile as she walked out of the bathroom. He turned back to the mirror and wiped the minty toothpaste drool from his face. He looked at himself in the mirror and shook his head. He liked the goddess, she was lots of fun, she didn't treat him like he was the idiot of the group, but he only thought of her as a friend, someone to hang out with. At least that is what he had kept telling himself. But the flare of desire that rushed through him when he saw her naked, that was not the reaction of someone who only thought of her as a friend. But she was a beautiful woman of course he would feel that way, she was hot. He closed his eyes. He opened them with determination. He would find out if he felt anything for her other than friendship. He walked from the room and found her slumped on the couch. There was a look on her face that made him almost angry. She looked tired. Then he remembered that she had to put up with both Leonardo and Raphael in really bad moods.

"Why do you put up with those two anyway?" He asked and was surprised by the anger that had leaked into his voice. She looked at him and smiled that warm smile of hers. His heart turned over in his chest.

"Because they don't mean to act the way they do. Leonardo is scared. The reasons he is scared are good ones I suppose, but nonetheless are not mine to share. Raphael is frustrated and angry. But it does not mean I am not tempted to beat them both over the head with a hard object at times."

"Game of Rage Fight 2?" Michelangelo asked, all thoughts of going to bed pushed from his mind.

She laughed. "Game on Michelangelo." She said grabbing a controller. Michelangelo didn't know how long they played. She wasn't as good at video games as he thought she would be, but then again she could be letting him win. At least that is what he thought until she grabbed his controller from his hands and began pummelling his character.

"Hey!" He yelled as he dove for his controller snatching it back. She laughed as the fight between them began each trying to distract or grab the other person's controller. She held up his controller and he launched himself at her. He knocked her onto the floor, landing on top of her. She was laughing and so was he, the control having slipped from her grasp sliding across the floor. She looked at him smile wide. He looked down at her and felt it then. The awareness that he had always noticed when she was near. That feeling of wanting something from her that he could never really put his finger on. He looked at her smile as it disappeared replaced instead by an awareness of him. He touched her face as if pulled to touch the silky softness.

A loud bang came from Donatello's workshop making him jump. He looked down at her and rolled to his feet. "Sorry I..." he stammered picking up his control. "You know I think I'm going to turn in for the night." He said throwing the controller on the couch as he practically ran to his room. He shut the door and leaned against it closing his eyes. "Great, just great. Way to go Mikey, you are an idiot." He said to himself. Here he was laughing at Raphael for not knowing his own feelings towards the goddess and here he was no better. But Raphael had feelings for her. Great now he didn't know what to do. He remembered that spark of awareness that flared in her eyes, she had definitely felt something other than friendship for him. He pushed himself off the door. Well he would wait and see if something ended up happening between Raphael and the goddess. That thought hurt him somewhere in the region of his heart but he squished it down. He walked over to his bed and fell into a troubled sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Donatello was glad that both Leonardo and Raphael were feeling better. At least Leonardo was. It had been a few days since the goddess had put them on bed rest. And Donatello was thankful that was over. Leonardo was still surly and angry, but at least the lair was quieter now that he and the goddess weren't fighting over keeping him in bed. Raphael was better for a few days until he had another violent nightmare, then it was back to square one. The goddess didn't seen too overly surprised about the outcome, which meant she knew that Raphael's body would not heal until his nightmares stopped. Which meant that Raphael was livid at the moment. He had of course sought out the sanctuary of his workroom, and thus far no one had bothered him.

He looked at the clock and realized that it was approaching midnight. He stretched but didn't feel tired, or rather he was so tired he was awake. He slumped down in his chair.

"Still up Donatello?" The goddess said as she walked into the room. He felt himself flush with excitement as a surge of adrenalin burst through him.

"Uh...yeah." Was all he had managed to answer. He was beginning to get tongue tied around her and he found it extremely annoying especially when his brothers all seemed to be able to talk with her easily, or fight as the case may be. The only time he felt comfortable was when he was talking about whatever it was he was working on. She picked up a gun that was laying on his workbench. He had grabbed two of them the last time they had battled the Purple Dragons. They were broken but he had managed to fix them. He had been more curious how they worked than of ever having any intention of using them. "Be careful with that, it's a high grade pulse beam. Basically can pretty much blast a really big hole in the wall."

She looked at the gun speculatively. She didn't really seem that interested in technology. She was extremely intelligent, but when it came down to anything more complicated than switching on a computer she was lost. He was used to being the only one who understood anything to do with computers, or technology in general or even science, but with her she could _learn_. If he explained something to her, she was able to process it and remember. It was peculiar the way she almost accumulated knowledge, processing and storing it almost like a computer. When he had asked her what the technology was like on her world she had laughed and said she was still waiting for them to invent indoor plumbing. Then she had put an elbow on his workbench and said, "My world is like a cross between a giant D&D game, with me as the dungeon master and Lord of the Rings."

But then he would get confused because according to her the last time she had been on Earth was during the early nineteenth century, but she was familiar with not only all of the latest technology, but she knew movies, music and books that had just been released, but she had already either read them, heard them, or seen them. When they had asked her how she had smiled and said it was a long story and left it at that. She put the gun back on the bench and leaned over his shoulder to see what he was working on. His heart started beating faster and his concentration slipped. He had begun soldering a computer chip into place and he burnt himself. "Ouch!" He yelped shaking his hand as he looked at the burn.

It wasn't that bad but the goddess gently took his hand in hers. "Sorry I guess that was my fault for distracting you. Luckily it's not too bad." Then she smiled and kissed his finger. He leapt up from his chair and backed away from her.

"Yes, um..thank you, it'll be fine." He said heart pounding in his chest, his face over warm from blushing. She smiled a half smile leaned against his workbench and crossed her arms. Suddenly all expression left her face and she almost seemed to grow paler. She uncrossed her arms and stood up straight. "What's the matter?" He asked concerned. But she just shook her head and left the room. He looked at the empty doorway in confusion. Then he felt guilty. Maybe he had hurt her feelings by jumping up like that, it was just she made him feel...he liked her, more than liked her, but Raphael liked her as well, but he didn't know her feelings. She seemed to like Raphael back and spent the most time with him, and oddly enough Leonardo, if you could call fighting spending time with someone. But then they were the two who seemed to require the most attention from her. On the other hand she seemed to flirt with them all equally, but he wasn't sure if it was out of some sort of habit, or if she really did feel _something _towards them. As these thoughts ran through his head he stood up determined to apologize. He would just tell her how he felt, which filled him with trepidation, but then he wouldn't be constantly thinking in circles, and he would finally know if he had a chance, or if she preferred Raphael.

He found her sitting against the wall in the living room. She was breathing quickly almost as if she were hyperventilating. A silent scream was ripped from her mouth as she doubled over in pain. He ran over to her kneeling by her side. She looked up at him in shock which slowly turned to horror. "What's wrong?" He asked fear and worry in his voice.

"Donatello, listen to me walk, do not run back to your lab and close the door, alright?" She said voice strained. Instead he picked her up and took her back to the lab. He hit the switch with his elbow that locked the doors. He put her on his worktable. "Donatello what do you think you are doing!" She managed to choke out through another wave of pain.

"You're in pain, a lot of it, I'm going to see if I can figure out what's wrong. I want you to..." But she grabbed his arm as he had tried to turn away.

"Donatello, I know what is wrong with me. I was trying to get you away from me so I wouldn't hurt you." She growled.

"Then what's..." And he stopped. She had been hurt, badly and had told Leonardo that she was cold because she didn't have enough blood in her body to keep herself warm. They had even discussed if she had been going out and feeding while they were eating, but it had slipped his mind to ask her. But it was obvious now that she hadn't been feeding. "You haven't been eating." He said voice hollow. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or horrified.

"No." She said softly.

"But...you fed on us without killing us, if you needed blood why not..." Feed on the humans, even to him that sounded wrong.

"I can't feed on human blood Donatello. Believe me if it were that easy I would have already done it." She said tiredly. Another wave of pain struck her as she doubled over.

"Then...then." Realization struck him. He waited until the pain passed. "You need the blood of..."

"Magical creatures. And so far you four are the only creatures with any magical power that I have found." She said softly looking away from him.

"Creatures huh?" He said the thought out loud and then could have hit himself. It was not the time, but at least he now knew how the goddess felt about them. To her they were probably the freaks of nature they thought themselves. He had been a fool to ever think that a woman as beautiful as her could ever be even remotely attracted to a creature like him.

"Yes creatures. I am the goddess of magical creatures Donatello, I am as much a creature as you are." She said with a half smile. He looked at her in shock. Could she really think of them in _that_ way? Her body began to glow, her eyes becoming a luminous green. "Donatello please go now before I end up taking your blood and hurting you.." She said through clenched teeth.

"No. If you need blood then take some of mine." He said looking at her.

She shook her head. "I don't want to end up hurting you Donatello. What if I can't stop, I don't want to kill you, I care about you too much to risk it." She said touching his face. Her touch was gentle and full of promise.

"And I care about you too much to see you suffer like this when there is no need. You should have told us, we could have..."

"What fed me?" She questioned. "Leonardo distrusts me enough without me telling him that I need to use you all as a food source to repair the damage the Syna inflicted."

"You saved Raph's life, and Leo's, we still owe you." He said conviction in his voice.

"You see it that way, Leonardo does not. If he found out you even offered..." Donatello shook his head and stood between her legs.

"Then we don't tell him until he gets his head out of his ass." He said angrily. He was furious that she had been in this much pain for a month all because Leonardo was acting like an distrustful jerk.

"Donatello," She said shaking her head. But he grabbed her face with his hands.

In the back of his mind he revelled in the feel of her velvety skin. "Do it, I know you won't hurt me. I trust you." He said to her. She pushed herself off his workbench. He backed up. She took a hold of his hand as she led him to his chair. She sat him down. He looked at her with confusion. She then straddled him, putting her arms around his neck. His breath caught in his throat. Her eyes were half closed as she looked at him. She leaned towards his neck and it took all of his control not to tense up.

"You have to promise not to tell your other brothers either, especially not Raphael. He already has too much to bear." Donatello felt his heart constrict. She did have feelings for Raphael.

"You care for him." He said voice oddly devoid of emotion.

"Yes." She whispered in his ear. "As I care for you Donatello." He managed to look at her face in confusion. She was looking at him with lust filled eyes. Her pupils glinted red in the light. She leaned into him and whispered, "I will try not to kill you." Then he felt the scrape of teeth, a stab of pain, followed by a torrent of pleasure. He gripped her tightly as wave after wave crashed into him. Her body was pressed against him, the feel of her skin against his own was like the sweetest ambrosia to his senses. The smell of her washed over him as she pulled from him a final wracking wave of pleasure. A groan of release was ripped from his lips. She finally pulled away but he noticed the red glint had not yet left her eyes. She put her forehead against his, eyes still glinting red. She had grabbed his shell and he heard it creak. She let go of it and seemed to struggle with herself. Finally the red glint disappeared and she looked at him concerned. "Are you okay?" She whispered.

"Um.." He tried to pull his brain out of the pleasure filled pool it was presently floating in.

"I didn't hurt you did I? You aren't seeing little black spots are you?" She asked concerned. He decided his tongue wasn't working so he just shook his head negative to both questions. When she went to move he held her still. When she had bit him within the chamber it had felt good, but not _this_ good. He was trying to get his breathing under control. He looked down at himself. It wouldn't be long before she would be able to see the wet spot on his jeans. A blush flooded his face. "You placed yourself in a very dangerous position Donatello." She whispered to him.

He could agree with that. In a few minutes time he had went from barely able to form a coherent sentence around her, to having her sitting in his lap. "Yes." He said but he didn't think they had the same reasons for thinking this. "How much more blood do you need?" He asked trying to get his mind off of the fact her body was pressed against his.

"More than you could ever hope to feed me and still live." She said with a grim smile.

"Then I will give you what I can." He said to her touching her face. She nodded, got off him and pulled him to his feet. He wavered a little and she put his arm around her. "Your eyes glinted red." He said to her. He needed to know the signs of her needing blood besides her doubling over in pain. "And your body began to glow."

"My body and eyes glow when I get ready to feed, it is almost like a glamour that is thrown over my victim, making me irresistible to turn away or run from. If you look into my eyes you are caught. I can of course control the glamour, it is what enables me to control the amount of pleasure or pain my bite can cause. The red glint is an indication of my Blood Lust. Once my body reaches the point where it needs blood that badly it causes me great pain. I have been ignoring this pain and my Blood Lust has been growing worse. When my Blood Lust rides me it is harder for me to control the amount of blood I take as well as stopping myself from killing during it. Sometimes I have to change the desire to kill into a different desire." Donatello blushed. "You need to promise me you will not tell your brothers of this" She bit her tongue, blood welled in her mouth as she leaned into his neck and licked the bite marks. He felt his neck tingle and he reached up and felt his healed flesh.

"I promise." He said with reluctance, suddenly getting a feeling that this was a decision he shouldn't have made so lightly."Goddess?" He asked.

"Yes?" She asked as he managed to be able to stand without her assistance. He looked into ancient eyes and he realized he couldn't ask her what her feelings towards him were. Not yet. Instead he grabbed her and held her, enjoying the feeling of her. Instead he asked "Is the pain gone?" She paused before she answered. "The pain has lessened." She said finally.

"So it is not gone. Please let me tell..." He began.

"Donatello, I have already told you my reasons. But I should also not put you in the position of lying to your family either. If one of your brother's should ask you may tell them, but only if they ask." He nodded and had to be content. She may change her mind. "You had better get to bed Donatello." He let her go and he walked to his bedroom. He changed, lay down in his bed and fell into a restless sleep where dreamt of a body that felt like cool silk that slipped through his grasp.

* * *

The next morning Donatello awoke feeling more frustrated than he had ever felt in his life. His body burned with need which he found extremely uncomfortable and annoying. He could hear voices coming from the kitchen, which he avoided and headed straight for the bathroom where he had the coldest shower he could stand. As the water ran down his body he realized that he would have to talk to her. Her bite was too intimate to experience and not know how she felt about him. When she had bit him in the chamber it had not been nearly as intense. It had felt good, but it hadn't elicited the sheer physical response it had last night.

He reluctantly made it to the kitchen where Raphael and Michelangelo were sitting at the table while Leonardo was making breakfast. He didn't enter the kitchen yet, rather he watched from the corner of the wall. He didn't see the goddess, but he noticed that her mug was sitting out as Leonardo was heating water for her. She sat with them every morning holding Michelangelo's favourite mug. It was strange though because Leonardo was always the one who boiled and poured the water for her.

Raphael looked to be in an even worse mood than usual. Leonardo poured him a mug of tea and placed it in front of him. Raphael picked up the mug of tea and without warning stood up, turned and threw it in frustrated anger, screaming his rage, throwing the mug...right at the goddess. She was apparently as shocked by the outburst as everyone else. She managed to block the mug that sailed towards her head, but it shattered against her arm sending scalding tea and glass onto her face and arm. Raphael looked at her in horror as the scalding water produced angry red marks and the glass cut her face. A few pieces of the mug managed to imbed themselves into her arm. The silence in the kitchen was deafening as all were shocked into silence and immobility.

"Bad mood Raphael?" She asked calmly as she looked down at her arm and pulled out a rather large piece of white ceramic mug. Her burns began to heal and the blood on her face evaporated into a fine black mist. But her arm was still a bloodied mess that was not healing.

"I...I...didn't know you were there." Raphael whispered.

"Raphael!" Leonardo yelled at him. Both parties ignored Leonardo.

Donatello fought down the anger that threatened to overwhelm him as he walked angrily into the kitchen. Michelangelo had also stood up and was glaring at Raphael angrily. "So if you had have known I was there you would not have, in a fit of anger, thrown the mug at my head, instead you would have what thrown it somewhere else?" She didn't wait for Raphael to answer. "You could have seriously hurt someone Raphael, what if it had have been Donatello standing where I was instead, he could have been hurt all because you are having issues."

"Donny's not..." Raphael began. "What in the kitchen? He is standing right behind you, and was in the kitchen when I came in." Raphael looked over his shoulder and met Donatello's angry gaze. Raphael took two steps towards her. Her blood dripping to the floor disappearing into a fine mist as it hit. No one breathed.

She looked at her arm. "Well Raphael your aim is impeccable, you have managed to sever both major veins in my arm, and I cannot heal until I get all of the ceramic out, because I don't want to have to cut it all out later." She looked at Raphael. "I am upset because you could have hurt your brothers. I can heal such wounds, your brothers could after a time, but the point is that you have to control your frustration over the situation you find yourself in." She turned to walk away. Donatello could see Raphael gathering his anger around him like a defensive cloak.

"How would you even know what I have suffered through these past weeks?" He said in a low angry voice. She stilled. "Do you have any idea what it is like to be in almost constant pain day after day! To not even be able to do what you want to do because you can't. To not even be able to leave this damn place!" He shouted at her.

She turned around and faced him. Donatello's anger flared. How dare he even...but then he didn't know what she was suffering through. He had expected anger instead steady moss green eyes stared at him. She gave him a half smile."A rhetorical question does not need to be answered, since you already seem to know my answer." She looked down at her arm. "Do you guys have any tweezers anywhere?" She asked.

Leonardo angrily pushed past Raphael and led the goddess to Donatello's workroom. Raphael sat back down at the table under Michelangelo and Donatello's angry gaze. "I screwed up, I know." He said as he put his forehead against the table.

"You have no idea how bad Raph." Donatello said angrily.

"Understatement of the year Raph." Michelangelo said angrily.

"She'll never forgive me." He whispered. Devastation crossed Raphael's face. It was then that Donatello saw it. The thin cord of sanity that Raphael held onto was about to snap. If she turned away from him now, his mind would break. She was the only thing keeping him sane. Michelangelo and Donatello looked at each other both faces bearing the same look of pain that had nothing to do with anything physical. His brother needed her, but...so did he.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The goddess was sitting on Donatello's workbench leaning against the wall while Leonardo dug pieces of mug out of her arm. She smiled at him a half smile. "You must be enjoying yourself." She said to him. He looked up at her. He was still angry that Raphael had hurt her, and he was furious at her for making him feel this way. "No." He said tersely. "What no little bit of joy at my comeuppance?" "No." He said as he managed to extract a piece of ceramic mug. It was still mildly disturbing to watch her blood disappear off of everything after it left her body. She had stopped bleeding but the cuts were still open. "Hmmm, how very gentlemanly of you." She said. "I'm not a man, so I can't be gentlemanly." He said with irritation. "So you are a what?" She asked curiously. "I'm a turtle." He said obviously. She laughed then and he looked at her. "So being a turtle precludes you from being a man?" She asked. "Hu-man, gentle-man, yes it does." She just shrugged. "I suppose I just tend to think of anyone who is vaguely human-ish and is male as being a man. Same with women." She tipped her head to the side in thought. "Yep, Orcs, goblins, centaurs, elves, you name it they are men to me, unless they are women. I mean look at me I do not exactly look human, but do you think of me as a woman or a female?" Clink another piece of mug hit the metal tray. Leonardo thought about what she had asked. It was true he thought of her as a woman. He paused in his task and looked into her eyes surprised. He tried to wrap his head around her thinking of him as a man. Then shook himself out of where his thoughts were heading. "He didn't mean it." He said suddenly. He was surprised at his own words. He wasn't planning on saying them, or attempting to defend Raphael's behaviour, but for some reason he felt like he had to. There had been something about the look in his brother's eyes right before he got angry that worried him. The fact that that particular look had made his heart hurt, he wasn't even going to examine. "Yes he did." She said simply."You didn't mean the piece of tail remark, he meant every word he said." He flushed. "But both of you regretted it the moment you said it." She shrugged. "Raphael will punish himself enough without me adding to his burden." He turned his head away before he fell into that calm green gaze. He turned back to his task. "I'm almost done." He said. "You had better hurry Leonardo, I am getting cold." She said to him. Curious he looked at her. She looked distracted, a strange look passed over her face, it was almost like surprise or pain, but he wasn't sure. She looked at him. "I will be right back." He stood back surprised that she was planning on going anywhere when suddenly she closed her eyes and her whole body stilled. He took another step back confused. He looked at her and noticed that her lips were more blue than pink. He reached out, she didn't move as his hand got closer. His finger brushed her lips. Her lips felt cold as ice. He took his hand back confused. She was oddly still. Usually when a person was sleeping or something there was some sort of indication of life. He watched for the rise and fall of her chest, but it was still. He reached out to check the pulse in her neck. He tried several times and found none. Fear spiked through him. He leaned into her chest listening for a heartbeat and found none. Dread stole over him. Arms suddenly went around him. "It's okay Leonardo." She whispered. He closed his eyes letting the fear slip away. He pulled back angrily. Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael walked into the room. "What the hell!" He grabbed her injured arm angrily. She winced in pain as he realized what he had done he loosened his grip. He looked at her arm and found there were a few more chunks of glass imbedded in the cuts. He breathed slowly and tried to get his heart to beat at the right speed. "Leo, what's your problem!" Raphael asked angrily striding up to the workbench. Leonardo angrily shoved the tweezers into Raphael's hand. "You did it, you pull the rest out, and while you are at it ask her why she isn't breathing and doesn't have a heartbeat." Leonardo stalked a few steps away as Raphael looked at her. He paled as he realized she was blue. She smirked. "Because my body is undead. Sorry I startled you Leonardo, I was checking something." "What the hell were you checking! You didn't go anywhere, one minute you are sitting there the next you look dead!" "I was wandering around through my own mind Leonardo. My heart hasn't been beating since we got into this room. I can't lose any more blood so I stopped my heart. I don't actually need to breathe, the only reason I do so is because I need to breathe to talk, that and it tends to creep people out. I try to appear as alive as I can. Nothing in my body really functions unless I will it to, and sometimes not even then." A flash of something crossed her face, pain, sorrow, regret? He couldn't tell. The room was silent. "That is why I need blood. Unlike a vampire I do not constantly need to ingest new blood because my body doesn't use it that way. It is like a super vampire hybrid, I only need to replace it if it has been lost somehow." She paused in thought. "Raphael I would appreciate it if you would take the rest of the mug out of my arm so I can restart my heart. I really am freezing." Raphael started in surprise, then set about the task of removing the final shards. Raphael finished quickly and her cuts closed. She brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs leaning her head on her knees. She looked deep in thought. "I have always wondered what it would have been like to have been resurrected into a body that still lived. A true resurrection like what I performed on Raphael instead of a...metamorphic change." Leonardo looked at her. Donatello walked over to her and placed a hand on her arm. She smiled at him covering his hand with her own. "The resurrection didn't go according to plan?" Donatello asked softly. She smiled at him and laughed. "I would say it was rather unsuccessful for all parties involved." "But you're here so it worked." Raphael said in confusion. She just smiled her half smile. "Yes I guess I am here. Resurrections are tricky." She said. "For one thing there are very few who can perform a resurrection to begin with. Even among the gods resurrection abilities are rare. For another there are only three ways to truly resurrect someone from the dead. The first is the easiest way, basically if you have the ability you just shove the soul back into the body. This is what I did with Raphael. Each god, deity or whoever, may have a different way of doing it, but basically the principal is the same. Thankfully I was able to bind Raphael's soul to his body because I wasn't relishing having to go the second route to resurrect him, and the third route is out of the question." Raphael had gripped her other arm. She moved her arm and interlaced her fingers with him. He closed his eyes in relief. Leonardo realized that she had forgiven Raphael. Anger still simmered on the surface as he noticed that she was holding hands with both Donatello and Raphael. "The second way to resurrect someone is to go to the Underworld and bring their soul back. I cannot think of anytime a mortal has been successful when attempting this. The Underworld is huge. You have to figure out where the soul went. The paperwork and hassle alone is enough to make most turn back. It used to be simple, challenge a god to a game, play a nice little song, but now," She shook her head. "it is a mess. Too many souls being processed each day. Most souls get delivered into Limbo Level One, which is in the first level of Hell. There are a few exceptions that get a one way ticket, but pretty much all souls are processed there no matter where they are bound. After the soul is processed it is taken to wherever it was originally bound, Heaven, Hell, Limbo Level Two, Valhalla, the Underworld, you get the picture. All of my creatures go to the Underworld." "So you would have gone to the Underworld to bring me back?" Raphael asked. "Yes. You should not have died that day Raphael, killed as you were by a rogue demon. I would have had to go to Hell to find you, but I would have brought you back." She said with a smile. "The third way to resurrect someone uses the very blackest of magic and tends to be the most favoured way of resurrection used by mortals. Basically by using dark magic one life is sacrificed to bring the other life back. Rule of equality, a life for a life. Resurrecting someone this way is very bad juju. It leaves a stain on your very soul." She said solemnly. "So what you are telling us is that you are...dead?" Leonardo found himself asking. She laughed. "Dead is dead Leonardo. I am a goddess with an undead mortal body. A strange situation to be sure, but it is what it is I suppose." Michelangelo walked up to her and shook his head. "They don't read enough comics do they? 1)Undead vampire makes undead vampire, 2)goddess takes over vampire body, 3) this equals a goddess in a vampire body, but better than a vampire because she's a goddess. It's classic comic pulp." He said with a smile. Holding out his hands for her. She disengaged her hands from Donatello and Raphael. Michelangelo grabbed her around the waist and lifted her down. Michelangelo was laughing but there was something hard that glittered in his eyes. He kept his arm around her waist as he walked her from the room. "What about Vampirella?" He asked her. "She's a vampire in a comic." "Oh please Michelangelo, have you actually read that one?" The goddess asked as their voices drifted away. Leonardo looked in shock at Raphael and Donatello. Raphael shrugged. "So she's undead, if I haven't cared up until now then I guess it doesn't really matter." "Raphael she didn't tell us she wasn't alive!" Leonardo said angrily. "Yeah she did, and if shell for brains over there figured it out, then we should have too. Although I guess you weren't around for that conversation were you Leo?" Raphael asked a slight edge to his voice. "So are you just going to let her walk out of here with Michelangelo?" Leonardo said avoiding the question. He closed his eyes. Now he was starting to talk like her too. When not wanting to lie answer with a question, or simply avoid the question entirely. Raphael looked at the doorway. "Naw, Mikey's just..." He looked at the doorway again. "Hey Mikey!" Raphael yelled as he followed the couple out. Donatello looked at him anger warring with another emotion he couldn't identify. "You got something to say Donny?" Leonardo asked. "Yeah, get out Leo, you're in my space." Donatello crossed his arms and watched him leave. Leonardo went to his room, slamming his door as he went. He wished the fact that she was undead bothered him, but it didn't.

Raphael was panting hard. He looked around at the destruction he had caused in his room. He was angry and he didn't have an outlet. He was tired beyond measure and his arm and leg were in so much pain he could hardly stand it. So he had trashed his room. Mature, no, did it make him feel better, a little.

"I did knock." The goddess said from his doorway. He looked over his shoulder at her. She was leaning against his door frame arms crossed looking at the destruction he had caused. She must have opened his door because it had been closed. "You had better lay down Raphael." She said to him.

"No." He said angrily. He knew he should be acting better but his frustration was too great to be contained. "Where were you all day?" He asked angrily. She had been gone, all day. She was gone when he had woken up and hadn't returned before everyone else had gone to bed.

"I was out." She said watching him intently. She pushed herself from the doorframe and walked into his room. She closed the door behind her. She turned around leaning against the door she crossed her arms and looked at him.

He wanted to throw something wanted to hit something, but he couldn't, especially after what had happened yesterday. He walked over to his bed and sat down putting his head in his hands in frustration. "What do you want?" He asked angrily.

He sensed her move towards him, paper crunched beneath her feet as she stepped on something. He lifted his head up as he looked at her. She reached down and picked up something that had been buried under a pile of clothes. She had uncovered a magazine.

Raphael felt the blood drain from his face. No he didn't, he looked around his trashed room, he couldn't have...

She said flipping through a few of the pages. He struggled to his feet and took a few steps towards her. She glanced at him and the blood rushed to his face. "A porn magazine." She said finally. "Why Raphael I didn't know you were such a perv."

She walked over to his desk chair pulled it out straddled it. She began flipping through some more pages. Raphael wanted to sink into the floor. He was too embarrassed for words. "It's not mine." He managed to choke out. "I don't know how..." He began. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Do you know how frustrating it is not being able to lie to you, even when I do lie, you know!" He yelled at her in embarrassed frustration.

She flipped another page then turned the magazine sideways the centerfold unfolding. Raphael covered his eyes and backed up towards his bed.

"I can't lie, why should you be able to?" She asked him. "It's not my fault I can smell it, hear it, and see it when you lie." She closed the magazine and folded her arms along the back of the chair. She rested her head on her arms, the magazine hanging negligently from her fingertips.

He looked at her. He was trying to gage what she was feeling. With her it was so hard to tell. Her eyes were usually a giveaway but right now they were steady and green, but this didn't mean she wasn't angry, it just meant she wasn't in a towering rage. "Do you find these women attractive Raphael?" She asked him.

He felt the jaws of a trap close in on him. Casey had told him about this sort of thing where no matter what answer you gave you were screwed either way. He had thought it was funny. Raphael had never thought that he would actually ever be caught in this type of position, soooo not funny now.

"Umm..." He thought furiously, but no matter which way he answered, neither sounded good.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't mean any woman in particular in this magazine Raphael, I mean human women in general."

The jaws of the trap closed tighter. He was still screwed. Did she consider herself to look human enough, or not human enough? So he did the only thing he could think of, he got defensive and angry.

"What, do you not think any human woman could ever like a freak like me?" He whispered voice dangerous and low. "Touch a creature such as myself. Don't you think I don't know how I look? The dry leathery feel of my skin, the hard rough planes of my shell. I don't even know if I could kiss a human woman because I don't even have lips. My hands are rough and callused from fighting and the thought of touching soft human flesh...Do you actually think a human woman would..." He stopped himself looking at her. Her expression was unreadable.

She was completely unfazed by his outburst. She looked around his room as if searching for something. She got up off the chair walked past him and flopped down on the bed. She stuck her hand beneath his mattress and pulled out more magazines and began sifting through the material. Raphael felt like he had fallen into some sort of horrific Twilight Zone nightmare. She rolled onto her stomach, found a magazine that seemed to interest her, and began flipping through the pages.

She looked over her shoulder at him. "Would what Raphael?" She asked looking at him seriously. "Sleep with you? Make love with you?" She asked her tail flicking back and forth. "I would." She said looking at him evenly. Her voiced rolled over him and shot straight into the nether regions of his pants. "Your skin isn't leathery Raphael, it is textured and warm and quite pleasant."

"My body temperature is lower than a human's." He finally managed to get his mouth working.

She shrugged. "To me you feel warm." She said turning her attention back to the magazine. "As for your shell, yes the shell on your back is rough in places, as for your front, you shell is only rough where it is scarred, or in your case where you scars run straight through your shell exposing the flesh beneath. Your touch, some women like their men to have calluses. And as for the whole kissing thing if you can pronounce an 'o' sound, you can kiss. Don't get me wrong it would be different, but probably doable." She tipped her head looking at the magazine. "She's pretty." She said showing him the picture.

"Grk" was the only sound that issued from his lips.

She looked at the picture, "No?" She shrugged, grabbing another magazine. "Of course I'm only an undead, blood sucking, creature of the night so my opinion might not really count."

"I feel a little weirded out right now." Raphael said trying to get some sort of bearing on where this conversation was or wasn't heading.

"Why? Is it the fact that you have a half naked woman lying on your bed, or the fact that said woman is looking at your porn." She asked with a wry smile.

"A little of both." He said. His leg was beginning to bother him again, but he didn't really want to move. He felt rooted to the spot, because he felt that if he moved in any way he would either wake up, she would come to her senses and leave his room, or she would start throwing things, possibly starting with him.

"Hmm I suppose if I wanted to browse through the movies I'd have to get them from Michelangelo's room." She said kicking her legs up and down.

"Gurk." He said as she threw him back out to sea. "How do you even..." He began.

She smiled over her shoulder at him and laughed. "You should see your face right now." She said rolling and clutching the dirty magazine to her chest. "It's elementary my dear Watson, you see when I found the magazines you almost let your gaze wander over to the closet but then didn't because you remembered the rest of your 'collection' wasn't in there and knowing your brothers as I do Michelangelo is probably the only other one who would watch your dirty movies." She said with a smile. Heat rushed into his face. "But seriously Raphael you had better sit down or something because you are going to fall down any minute."

He glared at her. "You drive me nuts you know that." He said angrily.

She turned her attention back to the magazine. "Whatever, you like it." She said to him flirtatiously.

And that was the problem right there. He did. She drove him crazy and he liked it. He turned to go sit down at his desk when something caught his eye. Her hair had fallen forward leaving her back exposed. He found himself, without even thinking sitting down on the bed and reaching towards her back. He had never actually seen her back before, her hair was always in the way, and even if it hadn't been, he might not have noticed. He touched the black skin between her shoulder blades tracing the cool edges of delicate black scales. He quickly pulled his hand away as he noticed what he was doing.

"Are you pulling your hand away because you are grossed out, or because you don't think you should touch?" She asked him looking over her shoulder. She shrugged and turned back to the magazine. "You can touch if you want, I don't mind. You can undo all of the ties if you want a better look."

He hesitantly reached out and began untying the linen strips and the black bra she wore. The arms of her wings were covered in delicate black scales that continued onto her shoulder blades. The black skin traveled down the center of her back to her tail where another bloom of scales covered her lower back and part of her ass. "Dragon wings, not bat wings, and a dragon tail, so technically part of me is reptilian, if you can call a dragon a reptile." She said as she grabbed another magazine.

He knew she had wings and a tail but he had never really thought about what kind of wings and tail. He slid his hand down the length of her tail. He moved positioning himself better on the bed. He picked up and spread one of her wings watching as the black membrane stretched and folded back. He let go of her wing and ran both of his hands down her back revelling in the feel of soft velvety skin and smooth cool scales. He moved a little closer to her head. She had put the magazine down and was laying with her head down arms crossed across his pillow. Her face was in profile, eyes closed.

He gathered up her hair and ran his hands through the silky softness. He watched as her hair shimmered and changed colours. He had always thought of her hair as being black, but it wasn't really. Royal purple, forest green and midnight blue shimmered in the depths. He grabbed the white part of her hair and saw it wasn't white, but it was made up of golden yellow, blush pink and baby blue. He pulled her hair away from where human ears should have been and found none, just the bottom of her kitty cat ears. He touched her ears which flicked in response. They were covered in shiny black fur with a tuft on the very peak. He touched what he had always thought as black tattoos that lined the very edge of her jaw running just under her chin. As he touched them he realized that they weren't tattoos, but just part of her skin.

He moved but pain shot up his leg. He gasped in pain. She sat up pulling all of her ties closed she somehow managed to tie them all back together. "Lie down Raphael, I'm sorry I got distracted. I brought you something to make you feel better." She moved off of the bed. He stood, pain blazed through his leg but he didn't want to lay down. "Goddess..." He began, but stopped when she gave him a tiny vial. Where she had pulled it from he didn't know.

"Drink this, it will help with the pain. I knew your shoulder and leg were bothering you, but I didn't know the pain was that bad. You should have told me sooner."

He looked at her in surprise. "I..."

She reached up and touched both sides of his face. "I'm sorry I would have gotten it to you sooner, but it took me a while to find everything I needed." She said as she leaned in and kissed him. He was so surprised he didn't even kiss her back. "Definitely doable." She said with a smile. "Have a good sleep Raphael." She said as she strode to his door and opened it. She looked over her shoulder at him. "I alphabetized your magazines, I also put them in order of the ones that I thought were the best." She closed the door quietly behind her. He looked down at his bed and saw a neatly organized pile of pornos. He reached over to the magazines and picked them up. He flipped through the one on top. He closed it and tossed the whole pile into the trash. He sat down on the bed drank the tiny vial of liquid and felt warmth blossom down his throat into his stomach. The pain in his shoulder and thigh lessened almost immediately. That was what she had been doing all day. Searching for something to take his pain away. He fell back on his bed. _Like he would be able to sleep now_. He thought to himself. "I could really use your advice right now Case." He said to himself.


	11. Chapter 11

Alrighty Chapter 11, how am I doin' so far people? Are we enjoying, not so much?

Chapter 11

Over the next couple weeks Leonardo got angrier. He didn't know why he was so angry but he was furious. Raphael had calmed down. The goddess had given him something for the pain and there were no more outbursts. Raphael and the goddess seemed to be close. They would sit and talk in quiet corners and watch TV together. She seemed to show Raphael a little bit more affection, an extra hug here an extra touch there, but she seemed to treat Michelangelo and Donatello with the same amount of affection. He felt as if he were in this horrible position, where on the one hand he didn't trust her, and she made him furious, but on the other hand he had seen the look in Raphael's eyes when he had thrown that mug at her. She was Raphael's lifeline to sanity and he was furious that she hadn't chosen him yet. No matter what the thought of her with Raphael did to his heart. There was also the change in Donatello that was bothering him. He seemed more tired than usual, a little paler, more drawn. He would be this way for a week then be fine the next. He wasn't sure if he was just staying up too long fiddling with whatever it was he was working on, or if there was something else going on.

When Leonardo returned to the lair he found all of his brothers doing something. Raphael and Michelangelo were watching a movie while Donatello was working in his workroom. He looked at Raphael and Michelangelo. They were laughing and joking with each other.

When he looked at the entrance to the lair he saw the goddess walking through the entrance. Donatello walked out from his work room. "Hey goddess, you want to come here and help me with this, I can't seem to understand what this means." Donatello said looking at a blueprint and turning it upside-down. "Sorry Donatello, did I write it in T'lae-ran?" She asked curiously.. "I don't think so, it's all symbols." He said looking at her curiously. She walked past Leonardo and gave him a slight smile. "Welcome back Leonardo." Leonardo looked at her, nodded and walked away. He then paused and followed the goddess to Donatello's workroom. There had been something strained about her manner. When Leonardo looked into Donatello's workroom he saw Donatello supporting the goddess. The blueprints lay on the floor written in symbols he couldn't read. Leonardo stayed out of sight and watched as the goddess collapsed and Donatello swung her up into his arms. He looked down at her worriedly. "Don't look at me like that Donatello." He hugged her close to him. "How can I not worry. You are getting weaker each day, and you won't let me do anything to help you." He said anguish in his voice. "You have already done all you can Donatello." He gently placed her upon his work table. He took both her hands in his and looked at her. "Take my blood.." Donatello began.

A flash of pain crossed her face only to be hidden. Leonardo remembered seeing other such flashes, but the change of expression was usually so quick that he hadn't been able to understand what it had meant. She touched his face lovingly. He stepped in closer and hugged her close. Her face was buried in his neck. "Donatello..." She whispered and she hugged him back. She pulled back. "I cannot bite you Donatello. No matter how tempting the offer." She slid herself off of the workbench. He backed up a little, but she clutched him and doubled over in agony. She let out a silent scream. When the wave of agonizing pain passed she said to him. "If Leonardo ever found out he would be furious." "Then we go to him. Leonardo is reasonable he would understand." Donatello began. Then he stopped and his shoulders slumped. "No he wouldn't." He said turning his head away. Donatello pulled her close and she let him. "You are suffering." He whispered. "I have suffered a great many things Donatello, believe me when I say that this is bearable." She said with a smile

"This is not the time to make light of this." Donatello said angrily. She smirked and touched his cheek tenderly. Donatello leaned into her hand, clutching it and pressing it into his cheek. She pulled away from him gave him a bright smile and turned away walking towards Leonardo who was standing just out of sight. Leonardo stepped back out of sight, but not before seeing her expression turn to one of pain as she clutched a hand to her throat. Her step wavered slightly, but she righted herself and continued walking. She passed him as she exited the workroom. She had schooled her expression and removed all traces of pain. "Hello Leonardo." She said softly as she passed him. She looked over her shoulder at him and asked. "Did you enjoy the book?" "I haven't read it yet." He lied. She looked at him steadily, nodded, then walked towards the couch. It was still early, just passed supper. She sat down between Raphael and Michelangelo. Raphael and Michelangelo had just started watching a really bad monster movie. Leonardo sat down on a chair in the kitchen and watched his brothers joke around with the goddess. Raphael put his arm around the goddess and pulled her into him. Raphael lay back so he was half sitting half laying in the corner of the couch, the goddess tucked in-between his body and the back of the couch. She looked up at Raphael in surprise. Raphael looked down at her with a tenderness that made Leonardo's heart hurt. She smiled at Raphael, a true smile, not a coy smile or a seductive smile but a smile of happiness. "You comfortable babe? Don't worry, I'll protect you from the scary monster movie. " Raphael said glancing at her uncertainly like he was wondering if he had gone too far.

Leonardo watched her carefully. She looked...pulled. Now that he knew what to look for he could see the slight signs of strain on her face. "I can't believe the goddess is afraid of monster movies." Michelangelo said with a laugh. "I'm not afraid of monster movies Michelangelo. It is more that the human mind cannot even grasp the true horror of some of the monsters out there. I have seen real monsters Michelangelo, some are so grotesque that just looking upon them will destroy your mind." She whispered. "And sometimes the real monsters wear a human face." Michelangelo in a rare moment of seriousness touched her leg then lay against her. They looked like sprawled dominos laying there on the couch. The goddess wrapped her free arm around Michelangelo, hand resting on his chest. "Maybe just some TV." He took the remote and turned the movie off. The sounds of the TV floated around the silent occupants of the couch. Finally the goddess broke the silence. "And Raphael, don't call me babe. What woman actually likes being called babe?" She asked twisting and placing herself more firmly beneath Raphael's arm, laying her head against his chest. Michelangelo sat up, but his hand was still touching her leg. "April lets Casey call her babe." Michelangelo said. "Who are April and Casey?" She asked.

"Friends of ours, humans, we haven't seen them for a bit. They've been on their honeymoon for the past few months, touring Europe, or something." Michelangelo said with a shrug. "You are warm Raphael." She whispered. She snuggled in deeper. Raphael gently took her hand in his and laced her fingers through his. She looked up at him, eyes half closed, but content and happy. Raphael kissed her forehead and rubbed the side of her cheek. She looked back down at the TV, then closed her eyes as Raphael began stroking her hair turning his attention back to the TV, a slight blush on his cheeks. He brushed his hand over her ear. She didn't move. Raphael stilled. "Hey Mikey is she sleeping?" He asked in surprise. Michelangelo leaned closer to her. "Seems to be." Michelangelo said curiously. "She's breathing slowly." "But she doesn't sleep." Raphael said in confusion. "Well she is now. Maybe she's just tired cause she's more mortal than goddess, now that she doesn't have any powers." He said with a shrug. "You are basing this on comic book theory aren't you?" He said with a groan. "Hasn't steered me wrong yet. Think about it, she's cut off from all of her powers, she has a mortal body, therefore no powers equals mortal. It's like in _The Silver Sentry and the Justice Force _Volume 36,when Dr. Malignus managed to create a special ray gun that stripped the Silver Sentry of his powers, he basically became a regular human, with all of a human's weaknesses." Raphael looked down at her and nodded. Raphael watched a few minutes more of TV until his eyes drifted closed and he too fell asleep. Michelangelo looked at the sleeping figures with worry in his eyes. He stood up and found a blanket. He walked back to the couch and covered them. He then turned and walked to Donatello's workroom. Leonardo got up off his chair and walked over to the sleeping figures. Rage burned through him like molten lava. He ripped the blanket off just as Donatello and Michelangelo emerged from his workroom. He grabbed her by an arm and pulled her out from Raphael's side. Raphael woke up, eyes confused. Leonardo looked at the woman apparently still asleep. He grabbed both shoulders and shook her. "Leonardo what the hell!" Raphael shouted at him. "I'm sick and tired of watching her play all of you! We don't know anything about her." He shouted. "Leo, let her go!"Donatello yelled, worry and anger written on his face. "How hard would it be for her to just pick Raphael." Leonardo said his voice cracking. The goddess opened her eyes and blearily looked at Leonardo "We don't even know if she has a boyfriend back home, or a husband! Goddesses are always married, the only ones that never are, are the virgins, and she just doesn't seem the type!." "Husband?" The goddess asked in confusion. She shook her head as if trying to clear it. "Your husband!" Leonardo yelled at her. Her eyes went wide with shock. She stood up pushing Leonardo out of the way. Terror filled her eyes. She started breathing hard. "Aerion." She said in a barely audible voice. "No, no,no." She was backing away from them. She backed up until she hit the wall. She looked around wildly, hand held out warding them off. Tears started streaming down her face, as great wracking sobs of terror shook her body. She started looking over her body as if checking for something.

Raphael stood and she looked at him with terror in her eyes. She looked down at herself. "It's okay, if this guy scares you that bad, we won't let him take you back. I promise, you can stay here." Raphael said softly.

She looked at them and seemed to focus, and realize where she was. She slid down the wall, knees pulled in tight, arms tightly hugging her body, wings wrapping themselves around her shaking body. She put her head on her knees, tears softly falling. Donatello approached her slowly. He touched her shoulder but she flinched back. Raphael knelt down on her other side and she pulled herself into a tighter ball.

Leonardo looked at the goddess in horror and confusion. He had never see terror on the goddess' face. He didn't think there was anything that she could possibly fear. She took in a deep breath and let it out. "I thought...What happened?" The brothers looked at each other in confusion. "You fell asleep." Michelangelo said. "Probably for a few minutes until Leo here started freaking out about you playing with us and how we didn't even know if you had a boyfriend or maybe even a husband?" The last he asked as a question. "Heterion" She whispered.

She closed her eyes. "It would be husband. Goddesses don't have boyfriends, we don't get to date, we are given husbands or Consorts." She said slowly. "I was sleeping?" She asked in confusion.

Raphael and Michelangelo nodded. She looked at Donatello who looked at her, anger warring with worry on his face. She started wildly running her hands through her hair. "Found you." She said as she pulled something from her hair. She opened her hand, a black butterfly was sitting on her palm.

"What is that?" Donatello asked.

"It's a nightmare." She crushed it in her hand, a fine black mist wafting into the air. "Daydreams are golden butterflies, if you ever wanted to know." She looked at Donatello grimly, eyes the colour of pale leaves.

She stayed curled into a little ball. She looked up at Leonardo. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, then opened them revealing her usual moss green eyes. She covered her face with her hands then dragged them down her face. "Husbands are usually chosen by the goddess' parents," she began. "Suitors bring gifts and are either given her hand or denied it. The goddess in question is never given a choice." "So you have been ..." Leonardo began, but Michelangelo hit him in the shoulder cutting him off.

"The god in question also has another option if his suit is declined. Have you ever heard the tale of the goddess Persephone?" She asked him. Leonardo shook his head. Donatello was nodding his face paling. "That's the goddess you got your sword from." Michelangelo said. She nodded and looked at Leonardo. "Long story short Hades kidnapped and raped Persephone, thus making her his wife. If a god can manage to take his chosen goddess by force she becomes his. There are no divorces, no annulments, there are often lovers, but never will a god or goddess be free of each other until death do they part." She paused and took a breath. Raphael looked stricken. He tried to place an arm around her in comfort but she flinched back. Raphael pulled his hand away but stayed near her. Raphael's face contorted with rage. "You mean some god..." He couldn't even say the word.

Leonardo felt ill. The thought of this god taking her by force.

"Aerion, was the God of Nightmares, and technically my husband...briefly. He despised me, hated my position, hated how powerful I was, but if he made me his wife I would occupy the position below him, and he would gain in power and position."

She fell silent.

"You don't have to..." Raphael said softly. She shook her head and closed her eyes.

"Heterion is..." She took a breath. "He..."

"Is he you son?" Leonardo asked. Her eyes opened in shock and a devastated looked quickly passed over her face.

Out of her line of sight Michelangelo was shaking his head no.

"Heterion made me remember, relive...He made me believe..." She stopped as she choked out the last word. She seemed to gather herself and began again looking straight at him.

"Aerion brought two sons out of three with him. He knew he couldn't succeed on his own, but with his two sons he may have had a chance to subdue me. And as long as he got me first he didn't think there would be any problem with his sons having me after." She said angrily."They forced a ceremony on me, binding me to him, trying to subvert my Will. But my Will would not be subverted by the likes of him." She said conviction running through her voice. " She stood, and walked a little way away so that she could look at all of them at the same time. She unwrapped her wings and looked at Leonardo steadily. "Ceremonies of marriage are important, but it is the consummation of the marriage that is the most important part. Without consummation the marriage is invalid. He tried to consummate the marriage. Aerion was the God of Nightmares. He could appear in a human form if he wished, but he did not wish. Imagine the most horrible creature your mind could fathom, and make it one hundred times worse. A creature with smooth oily transparent skin. Muscle, tissue, sinew bulging and flowing, constantly rearranging itself into a new hideous form. Imagine deformed limbs, whip-like tentacles lashing and grasping. Imagine the smell and feel of rotten flesh. The oozing tissue deteriorating before your eyes into putrid clumps, while millions of white writhing maggots burrow deep into fetid flesh. Fangs and mouths ripping and tearing, eyes glittering and flashing malevolent desire as the creature feasts on your screams of abject terror." She said, voice devoid of all emotion.

"I am an Unclaimed virgin goddess Leonardo. I am not like Hestia or Athena, I have not been placed in the role of the forever virgin. I have just remained Unclaimed. Goddesses as powerful as I am do not stay Unclaimed. To have a goddess with as much power as I do, and without the restraint of a god makes me even more dangerous and feared. Us goddesses might begin to get Ideas, like maybe thinking we are equal to the gods." She smirked and looked at Leonardo. "I am the head of my Pantheon of one. Do you know how rare it is to have a goddess rule her own Pantheon? So rare I don't know of any who do. But I exist outside all other Pantheons, and because I am the most powerful I rule over all other Pantheons. Aerion was not the first, but he was the last god who ever tried to take me by force." She said, her voice hard and steely

"My guardians Seymous and Daemon were killed trying to save me. Their deaths allowed me to break free of Aerion, a creature that can attack your mind, know your most secret fears and use them against you. It is easy to fight an opponent you can see, harder to fight against your own mind." She said evenly.

"I killed Aerion and his two sons and destroyed their very souls. I was safe from nightmares because I did not sleep. But Heterion has found me. He is the new God of Nightmares, Aerion's third son." She said looking at the hand that had crushed the butterfly. "If I sleep again his nightmares will not be able to find me. The destroyed butterfly will repel all others, and Heterion will never know that one of his nightmares held me in its sway for a short time." She looked at them seriously.

"You are probably wondering why I would not have chosen a Consort, if only to avoid any such...incidents of unpleasantness." Donatello shook his head and slowly began to walk towards her.

"I had not chosen a Consort because I had not found any I would have liked to bind myself to for all eternity. Marrying for the gods is a power thing, marry for power, take godly or mortal lovers after. But I have never cared about power." She said softly. She shook her head as if trying to clear it.

"Do not look at me with such horror." She said with a wry smile "It was a long time ago, nearly 900 years. It was Heterion's power that brought the memory to the surface, made me believe I was in that time and place again. Now that I know it was Heterion, he will no longer have any power over me." She whispered as she put a hand to her head. She looked at them, closed her eyes, and fell.

Donatello managed to catch her, picking her up gently. He looked at Leonardo angrily. "What is your problem Leo! Why can't you just leave her alone!" He looked from Donatello to Raphael and to Michelangelo. All of his brothers looked at him with accusations in their eyes. All of them were pale, the looks of horror had yet to leave their faces. Leonardo was struggling to keep the bile from rising in his throat.

"She is undead Leo." Michelangelo growled. "Don't you remember what she said, 'nothing in my body works unless I want it to, and sometimes not even then.' She can't have kids. So good job on making her re-live that."

Raphael stood and walked over to him, anger vibrating through every muscle. He didn't see the punch coming but he felt it when it connected. He fell to the ground. "I don't know what your problem is Leo, but you had better get over it right now." Raphael said to him angrily. He rubbed his jaw. Picking himself off of the floor."I'm sorry Raph...I..." "Don't be apologizing to me Leo, it's her you've got to apologize to! For everything!" "But if you knew Raph..." Leonardo began. "Don't even Leo." Raphael said angrily. But what was he supposed to tell him? That no matter what had happened to her in the past right now when she wasn't with him, she was with Donatello. That she touched Donatello as lovingly as she touched him. That his own brother was going behind his back.

"Leo..." Donatello began. Leonardo looked at Donatello. "No Donny you are the one that..." He stopped the ugly words before they came out. Instead he turned and walked away.

He managed to make it to his room before his stomach revolted and he puked up everything that he had eaten that day. He leaned against the cool stone wall and slid down until he hit the floor. His mind replayed her words, and he felt his bile rise again. He pushed it down. He couldn't feel this way. He needed to remember that she was betraying Raphael, that there was something that she was after. That she was a danger to his family. He stood up, he needed fresh air.


	12. Chapter 12

Kind of a short chapter...

Chapter 12

Michelangelo looked after Leonardo in confusion. He looked over to where Donatello was holding the goddess. Raphael winced as he tried to move his arm. He had really clocked Leonardo. Not that he didn't deserve it, but he still didn't know why Leonardo was acting the way he was.

Raphael walked over to Donatello, anguish written in every line of his face. "Donny..." He choked out shaking his head. He reached out to touch her but stopped himself. "That's why she didn't want to watch the monster movie." He whispered. Michelangelo didn't think he would ever be able to watch another monster movie again.

"Mikey thinks she's becoming more mortal, and that is why she is sleeping." He finally managed to say. Donatello shook his head. "I honestly don't know Raph. She may know what's wrong with her, but whether we will actually get a straight answer from her is another story" He said softly.

He looked at Raphael. "She's okay Raph." Donatello said to him.

"God Donny I just can't..." Raphael said shaking his head.

Donatello looked at him seriously. "This is the goddess we're talking about. She won against Aerion. She was under the influence of that god and knowing her, if she could, she would march over there right now and kick Heterion's ass. You know that and I know that. She is the strongest woman I have ever known. She doesn't need us to fight her battles for her, or dwell on battles she has already won." Raphael nodded curtly ."I'll take her Donny." He said holding his arms out for her.

Donatello shook his head."I'm going to take her to my workroom. I want to run some tests on her, make sure she's sleeping and not unconscious, see if I can find out what's going on with her." Donatello said looking at her and pulling her in closer. Donatello looked at Raphael, closed his eyes, then passed her over to him. "I'll get her when she wakes up, keep her warm, come get me when she wakes up." Donatello turned and walked away. Raphael looked down at the woman in his arms, pulling her closer pain still evident on his face. "She's been through a lot, hasn't she?" Michelangelo asked him quietly.

"We probably don't even know the half of it Mikey." Raphael said as he lay her down on the couch.

Michelangelo left and came back with another blanket. He bent down and picked her up. Raphael looked at him in confusion. "Donatello said to keep her warm, and you need more rest. Lay down I'll put her on you."

Raphael shook his head. "I can't Mikey, after what she's been through..."

"Raphael, she was cuddling with us and laying on you twenty minutes ago. If she was still bothered by what happened to her she wouldn't be doing that." Raphael looked at him and nodded. He obeyed laying down on the couch. Michelangelo tucked her into his side, partially laying her on his chest. He covered them both up with a the blanket and sat down at their feet. He covered himself and their feet with the other blanket. "Go to sleep Raph, I'll watch her." Michelangelo said looking tenderly at the woman who lay sleeping in his brother's arms.

Michelangelo Looked at Raphael. He knew his brother had been through so much, and that it was due to the woman in his arms that had kept him sane for the past two months. If not for her constantly distracting him from his inability to fight, Raphael probably would have lost it. But now he had to watch as his brothers fell in love with the same woman. Michelangelo had a feeling things were going to get worse unless she chose one of them. And even then, he didn't think things would get much better. He turned towards the TV and began flipping through the channels. Raphael was soon sleeping and Michelangelo turned and looked at them. Donatello had emerged from his workroom and was watching the pair sleep. A look of anguish that had nothing to do with physical pain passed over his brother's face. Michelangelo stood and walked over to Donatello and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She hasn't chosen him Donny." Michelangelo said to him.

Donatello looked at him in shock. "I wasn't..." He began. Michelangelo walked away to find some chips. He didn't want to hear Donatello's excuses. He rummaged through the cupboards and found some snacks then went back and sat down on the couch. Donatello walked back into his workroom, pausing at the door. "I don't want to lose her Mikey... she...she feels like home." He said walking through the door. "I know." Michelangelo said quietly to himself. Two hours later the goddess quietly disengaged herself from Raphael's embrace. She sat beside Michelangelo leaning her head against his shoulder. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She was silent and looking at him uncertainly.

"Well thanks to your story I don't think I will ever be able to watch another horror or monster movie again. And if I don't have nightmares tonight I think I will be really lucky." Michelangelo said to her accusingly. She laughed. "I'm sorry about that, I truly am. Thank you Michelangelo." She beamed at him.

He relaxed and smiled back. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. She hugged him back. "You were lonely before us, weren't you?" He asked softly. He didn't know where the question came from but it popped out of his mouth anyway. She was silent for a few moments and Michelangelo didn't think she was going to answer. "I don't have...friends. Death is my only friend, if you can call what we have friendship. Maybe Gabriel, as well, although my relationship with Gabriel is...complicated." She said thinking. Michelangelo looked at her in shock. "Death is your friend?" He asked incredulous. "Well like I said, if you can call what we have friendship. Death is a human construction. He has no emotions or feelings, but because he was created by humans, he has been able to gain them, or at least some ability to understand them. He has also been hanging around with me for over four thousand years. I have always... interested him. He cares for me insomuch as a being like Death can care for anyone. We play chess every Thursday." She said with a smile. She looked over her shoulder at Donatello who had emerged from his workroom.

She looked back at Michelangelo. "Thank you Michelangelo." She said softly. He removed his arm and she stood. Donatello looked grim. She smiled down at Michelangelo, "Oh look at the time, I should really be out looking for demons, I'll catch up with you in a bit Donatello." She said as she disappeared quite literally. "Wow, she just totally ran out on you." He said in surprise. Donatello grumbled something then returned to his workroom. She found him standing on the roof of Belvedere Castle, overlooking the lake. She looked at him steadily, no accusation, no anger, nothing in her gaze but worry. He didn't know what to say to her, he couldn't bring himself to apologize even though he knew he should. He had been so angry, and he was still angry. Anger flowed through his like a raging torrent. He wanted to yell at her, scream at her to choose Raphael, but the words would not come.

"Come back to the lair Leonardo, the air is thick with the stench of Demons." She stood on the wall then turned and looked at him. "You can lie to me if you wish, but don't lie to yourself Leonardo, the only person you hurt is yourself." She unfurled her wings and fell backwards off the building. He watched her soar in the direction of the lair. He sometimes forgot that she could fly. He tailed her occasionally but when she was at home she always had her wings wrapped around her body. She was beautiful when she flew.

He followed her home. The shield of mistrust he had placed around himself was beginning to crack and crumble, but he needed to reinforce it or else he wasn't going to be able to... He couldn't even finish the thought. He walked through the entrance of the lair. His eyes against their will sought her out. She was talking intensely with Donatello, they didn't notice him approach. Michelangelo was watching TV while it looked like Raphael had already gone to bed for the night. "You're getting worse." Donatello whispered at her.

"I already told you I will not take any more of your blood" She said to him reasonably. "But if you took my blood it would help." Donatello said desperately. She shrugged and softly touched his shoulder. "Please goddess," Donatello whispered. He touched her face, pain written clearly on his face. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. Rage poured through Leonardo. How could she act like this with both Raphael and Donatello. And how could Donatello betray Raphael like this! Leonardo marched up to her, anger pouring out. She pulled away from Donatello as he grabbed her arm. He pulled her away from Donatello and dragged her to the far corner of Donatello's workroom. "So are you going for Donatello or Raphael? Because you had better choose between the two, because if Raph catches you like that with Donny..." He let the sentence hang. "But maybe if Donny is okay betraying his brother, please continue." Leonardo said in an angry whisper. "Or is it Mikey? Which is it or are you just going to seduce all of my brothers?" He said rage pouring off of him. Sadness flickered across her face. She reached up with her free hand and stroked his face. She opened her mouth to reply when Michelangelo came running up. "Leo, Donny, goddess you have got to see this, the Silver Sentry is on the news!" He was jumping up and down in excitement. The goddess's gaze swivelled from Michelangelo back to him. She looked at him with even green eyes that looked through to his very soul. That gaze knew all of his secrets, and ripped them open inspecting them in minute detail. He broke eye contact with her before he could find out if she found anything in his soul wanting. "Leonardo I..." she began but Michelangelo grabbed her by the arm.

"I have a nice seat right beside me!" Michelangelo yanked her towards the couch. Donatello looked at him grimly.

"So bro, I'm guessing you heard everything, still think she's the big scary monster? So tell me am I under her influence, is she making me want to give her my blood?" He asked, angrily. "She doesn't have to Donny. She's got you three so wrapped around her fingers that of course you would willingly open a vein. So how long has she been feeding off of you Donny? And when did you plan on telling Raphael that not only are you feeding her, you have been cheating on him with her when his back is turned." Leonardo said viciously. Donatello paled."It's not what it looks like Leo..." He began. "Isn't it Donny? She acts all innocent 'oh I can't take your blood...' But meanwhile she has been bleeding you for what a little over a month? I've seen you Donny, all tired and worn out. She's making you act in a way you never would have before." "She's not Raph's, Leo." Donatello said anger beginning to trickle into his voice. Leonardo turned and stalked away. "Raphael thinks she is." Leonardo said to him angrily as he stalked out.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorta my fav chapter...

* * *

Chapter 13

**Raphael** woke up the next day feeling, if possible, worse. He tried to move but he felt as if he had been hit by a truck. He was so frustrated that he was beyond anger and somehow reached the point of despair. She had given him back his sais but he couldn't use them in his condition. Hell, he'd be lucky just to get out of bed this morning. But then if he didn't get out of bed, he wouldn't see his goddess. He needed to touch her, and hold her. After what he had found out last night, he needed to know if she would ever let him even touch her in that way and make her his. Not that he would blame her if she didn't, but there were so many things he needed to know.

She had been gone when he had woken up last night, so he didn't know if she was okay. He worked through the pain and managed to get himself out of bed. He limped into the kitchen and found his brothers looking no better than he felt. Leonardo was arguing with Michelangelo, which was strange because Michelangelo and Leonardo never fought...Ever.

"Mikey I don't want you doing this." Leonardo said angrily.

"Leo I don't see what the big deal is. She wants to go so I say let her. You can't order her not to leave."Michelangelo replied.

Raphael felt his heart stop. If she left, if she decided to leave them... He couldn't even finish the thought because the thought of her not being in his life hurt too much. It hit him then that he had fallen in love with her. The realization hit him in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him.

"I may not be able to order her to stay Mikey, but I can order you not to go." Leonardo said.

"But she doesn't want to go without me Leo." Michelangelo complained.

Raphael couldn't even work up enough anger to get angry. She was taking Mikey with her. _She had chosen Mikey?_ He turned to stumble back to his room.

"Leo it's my thing. I'm the Turtle Titan, I'm the one who is a partial member of the Justice Force. She wants me to introduce her to the Silver Sentry."

"Mikey I don't want you running around Manhattan looking for demons. Raphael has already been hurt I don't need another brother hurt or worse, killed!" Leonardo yelled.

"I will look after him Leonardo." The goddess's voice rode along Raphael's arms like a sinful invitation. "And besides I don't know if the man we chase is actually being ridden by a demon. It may just be a wild goose chase, but if the Silver Sentry believes that his adversary is acting in an unusual manner, I believe it is worth checking into." The goddess said to Leonardo.

"He's a criminal, he acts unusual, it's what they do!"Leonardo insisted.

"Trust me Leonardo, a high grade criminal stealing Twinkies from a convenience store is unusual . Demons don't usually ride criminals, no real challenge, they find it boring. They ride people who inhabit the grey area of human morality, but only because they have enough lawyers in hell to have extensive knowledge of all of those nice legal loopholes. If our criminal friend here is in fact being ridden by a demon, then it may be a refugee, or a rebel. Either way I want to talk to him." She said with a malevolent smile that didn't bode well for the criminal in question. She turned and looked at Raphael. Her face grew concerned. "Raphael how are you feeling? You look like you had a rough night last night."

"I must have, I feel pretty bad." He said collapsing into a chair at the table. His goddess walked over to him and knelt down in front of him, face full of concern. Now that he knew he loved her, not touching her was even harder. But after yesterday, he couldn't. He had been forcing himself on her, and he couldn't do that anymore.

She reached out and touched his face. She leaned in closer and whispered to him. "It was a long time ago Raphael, and I have been through much worse. Do not look at me like that, as if you are afraid to touch me. I have always welcomed your touch." She smiled gently at him. She stood up and looked at Leonardo, who looked angrily back at her.

"You hungry Raph, I could make you bacon and eggs?" Donatello asked.

"No thanks Donny." Raphael replied. "I'm not really hungry. I think if I can get out of this chair, I might head back to bed." He told his brother a Michelangelo moved to help him, get out ofg the chair. They walked towards his room and Raphael changed his mind. "Actually Mikey just take me to the couch."

"Leonardo," The goddess began, "We need to talk." She said softly.

"No, we don't." Leonardo growled angrily.

"Be it upon your shoulders then." She said heatedly.

Raphael lay down on the couch and went back to sleep. He didn't know how long he slept for but was awoken by the sounds of familiar voices.

"Hey guys," April's chipper voice said. "We finally finished with our trip. It was amazing, you should see all of the pictures we got. Backpacking through Europe was the best honeymoon ever!." April said happily. Raphael struggled painfully to sit up.

"Hey, where's Raph?" Casey asked.

"Crashed out on the couch." Michelangelo answered.

"What's he doin' sleepin' in the middle of the day?" Casey asked.

"About that," Donatello began.

"Hey Case how ya doing?" Raphael asked looking over the back of the couch at him.

"Hey bro, rough night?" Casey asked as he leapt over the couch and landed next to him. Raphael winced in pain. "Whoa bro, what happened to you?" He asked looking at the scars that his shirt didn't cover.

April walked around the couch and looked at Raphael. "Oh my god Raph, are you okay?" She looked at Casey concern in her eyes. "Donny, why didn't you tell us Raph had been hurt?"

"Well we knew you guys were half way around the world..."Donatello began.

"He was hurt Donny, that's no excuse, we would have come home sooner. How did this happen?" She asked.

"Forget about how, What did this to you bro?" Casey asked as he got Raphael to lift up his shirt exposing the full extent of his injuries.

Raphael looked at them. _What was he supposed to say, a demon?_ "A really big monster got his claws into me about two months ago." He finally managed to say. He looked around the lair but didn't see Leonardo or the goddess anywhere. _She must have gone out on her daily patrol and knowing Leonardo he was probably tailing her._ He thought to himself which just made him angry thinking about his brother following her around like she was some sort of monster.

He turned his attention back to Casey and April. Although they shared everything with Casey and April he didn't know how they would explain the whole goddess and demons thing.

"Bro, you're not looking so good. Are you okay?" Casey said with concern. He paused in thought for a moment. "I know what will make you feel better, how about you and I go out and bust some heads" He said with a smile.

Raphael looked away from Casey's eager face. Donatello placed a hand on Casey's shoulder and shook his head slightly. "I can't fight anymore Casey." Raphael said quietly. He had thought it, he had even said it to his goddess, but somehow saying it to Casey made it more true.

Casey looked at Donatello who shrugged. "Don't say that bro, you just need to recover for a little longer, then you will be out bustin' heads in no time." Casey said to him.

"Thanks Case, but the sooner I get used to the idea, the better it will probably be." He said quietly. Casey and April shared a worried look.

"So has the monster problem been dealt with?" April asked worry lacing her voice. "Did you guys manage to get the monster that did this to Raph?"

"I don't think it would be good for you guys to get involved." Donatello said. "The situation is...complicated."

"But Donny!" April said in shock.

Michelangelo walked over to them. "Raph faced the monster without us, but the monster was dead when we found Raph. Raph was..." Michelangelo paused. "In rough shape." He looked at April and Casey. His serious expression at odds with his usual expression of carefree happiness.

"Oh God, Raph." April looked at Raphael in horror.

"This is serious stuff April, I don't know if we can get you involved, let alone should." Donatello said to her. "Come on April, show us some of your pictures, we'll talk more about this later when Leo gets back." He said with a forced smile.

She looked at him questioningly. "If you're sure..." She said leading Donatello and Michelangelo to the kitchen table. Casey looked at Raphael. "You know bro, if you ever need someone to talk to or something, or if there is something you want to tell me, I'm always here for you."

"I know Case." He said then he looked at his friend. He was silent for a moment. "Can I ask you something, two something's actually?"

"Sure, anything you want bro."Casey said curiously.

"What would April have done if she found your porn collection?" He asked.

Casey looked at him shocked. "Seriously?" Raphael nodded.

"Didn't want to find out, that's why I gave it to you. But knowing April, if she didn't dump my ass right there and then, I would have been in the dog house for a very long time. There may also have been screaming and things being thrown." Casey glanced at April. "Yup definitely screaming and things being thrown, probably at me."

Raphael looked away and nodded. He was silent a moment finally looking back at him. "So how did you know that April was you know, THE ONE?" He asked.

Casey gave him a strange look."I don't know." He answered finally. "I mean, we are so different from each other, and April, she's smart, really smart, but she puts up with me. She puts up with my temper and we have a lot of fun together. We have fun together when we do stuff, and fun when we don't. She understands me, you know, she gets me."

"And you get her?" He asked

"Hell no!" Casey said looking at him in shock. "She's a woman Raph, there ain't no understanding women. Just when you think you've got them figured out, they hit you up the side of the head with a hockey stick and change the rules on you." He shook his head.

"So basically she drives you crazy?" He asked.

"Every single day. Sometimes it's good crazy, sometimes it's bad crazy. Trust me Raph, never try to understand them. I'm just content to know that for reasons I'll never understand she loves me, and I love her." He said looking over the couch at April and smiling. He turned his attention back to Raphael. "Why the questions Raph?" He asked.

He was silent a few moments before finally answering his friend. "It's been rough Case. I've been angry and frustrated and annoyed but..." He smiled, "It hasn't been all bad." He said as he reached behind him and took the goddess' hand in his. The scent of flowers washed over him. He had asked her once why she smelled like flowers. She had said it was White Heather, and that it was her flower. "Goddess you're back." He said softly. It was then that he realized his slip. If they didn't want April and Casey in the middle of this, they couldn't know who or what she was, but how do you explain a woman who looks like a demon?

"I'm sorry I didn't know you had guests." The goddess' voice drifted over his shoulder.

"Whoa, where'd she come from." Casey said in surprise.

* * *

**April** turned around and heard Casey exclaim."Goddess is right, Raph, wow." She walked over to the couch and looked at the woman who had walked in. She was the most beautiful woman April had ever seen. She was tiny maybe five foot exactly so about two inches shorter than the guys. But there was a raw sensuality about her that was almost tangible. April looked over her clothing which was tasteful, bright blue halter top paired with blue jeans. Cute little green high heeled sandals that were the same shade as the scarf that she wore in her hair. She seemed to be wearing Leonardo's trench coat, which shouldn't have fit, Leonardo being a hundred and eighty pound turtle and her being maybe 110...soaking wet...fully clothed...in the evening, but somehow she made that trench coat look like it had been made for her. Her hair was a little odd, and she would have accused her of having a bad dye, job except it wasn't the flat black that dyed hair tended to have. Rather it was almost multi-coloured like that of a Raven's wing holding greens, blues and purples in the depths. Pale white locks framed her pale and perfect face, which was marred only by a series of scars and some sort of black tattoos that seemed to run from jaw to neck.

Casey leaned more towards Raphael and whispered, "Wow Raph is she...? Wait did she find...?" He asked.

"Yup." Raphael whispered.

"Wha'd she do?"

"Alphabetized it and picked out her favourites." Raphael whispered with a smirk.

"I am not worthy." Casey said holding out his hands and bowing.

"I threw it all out." Raphael said as he stood up without letting go of her hand. He walked over to her, laced his fingers through hers and whispered something in her ear. She smiled up at him. There was a look in her eyes, part flirtatious laughter, part tenderness.

"How are you feeling" The woman asked speaking in a voice that was like satin, all smooth and sinful. "When I left you were sleeping. You weren't doing very well this morning." She said with concern.

"Yeah, I feel better. I missed you." Raphael said. She laughed and smiled at him. April swore she could almost hear bells in her laughter.

"Liar. You were sleeping and therefore didn't miss me." The said with a smile.

Raphael touched her face tenderly then brought her chin up. She looked up at him questioningly as he moved in to kiss her. His lips touched hers and she kissed him back wrapping her free arm around his neck. They broke away from each other and Raphael searched her face looking for something. Whatever he found reassured him. She smiled at him and he smiled back showing a tenderness and affection that she didn't think Raphael would ever be capable of. the startiling realization that Raphael was in love hit her.

"Yeah, yeah, Raph quit hogging her, and quit showing off for April and Casey. What did you get me!" Michelangelo asked shoving Raphael out of the way as he leapt towards the woman, grabbing for one of the bags she was holding. The woman laughed and the laughter rolled down her skin like it was its own tangible force. The sound was full of happiness and joy. April blinked in surprise.

"Michelangelo, you will just have to wait a second I just walked in. Leonardo should be right behind me."

"You must be April and Casey." She said with a smile. April finally got the full attention of her gaze and she had to swallow. There was something about her, something in her gaze that made her think of looking into the eyes of an ancient creature that seemed to hold the knowledge of the world in their depths.

"Yes."April said faintly. "I didn't know the guys had company." April said faintly.

"Oh she's not company." Michelangelo said trying to dig through the bags. "She lives here. Did you get it, did you get it, please tell me you got it!"

"Oh just take the bag Michelangelo, yes I got it." She said with a smile at him. Michelangelo flung himself at her hugged her. "This is so awesome, I can't believe you actually found the limited edition super rare Silver Sentry and the Green Mantel: Tales From Space, #1!" He danced around her, kissed the comic then gave her a kiss on the cheek. Raphael glared at his brother but only stood there with his arms crossed. She laughed again and the laughter danced off of April's skin. Her laughter was seriously creeping her out.

"She doesn't live here Mikey." Leonardo said dangerously, as he entered the living room. "She's staying with us until she can go home."

"Hey Leo, go take a pill or something." Raphael said angrily. April looked at Leonardo in surprise. Leonardo was never angry, or at least when he was he was never this bad.

"Leonardo's just mad because I ended up going shopping, instead of looking for..." She stopped and looked at April and Casey. She sighed and shrugged. "There will be time enough tonight Leonardo. Just because I wanted to go shopping doesn't mean you need to be upset about it, unless of course that isn't why you are angry?' She asked looking at him over her shoulder. Leonardo glared at her silently. The air between them crackled with an angry tension, but she wasn't sure it wasn't underscored with another form of tension.

The woman turned and walked over to Donatello. She handed him a bag. He took it and then leaned in close and whispered something in her ear. Her face grew serious and she touched his cheek lightly. She leaned in close and said something back to him, his face grew worried but nodded. He threw an inscrutable glance at Raphael then took his bag to his workroom.

"Bro, isn't she your girl?" Casey leaned over and whispered. "Or is the field still open, cause if the ball is in play then I think you and Donny had better have a little talk."

"Thank you for those lovely football analogies Case." Raphael growled.

Leonardo stalked over to the woman and grabbed her by the wrist to stop her from leaving to go into Donatello's workroom. Whatever he said to her made her angry. She shook her head and tried to pull her wrist away.

"Leo just doesn't know when to quit." Raphael growled.

Michelangelo shook his head."You two had better duck, things might get messy. It's bad enough when Raph and her fight, but when her and Leo get going sometimes things get broken." Michelangelo said still looking through the bags.

"Do they always fight?" April asked faintly staring at her friend who was having a heated argument that was being kept low enough so they couldn't hear what was being said.

"Who? Her and Raph or her and Leo?" Michelangelo asked.

"Um..." April said in confusion.

"Her and Raph only fight when Raph is too stupid to listen to her or if he is in one of his moods and she doesn't want to take his crap anymore. Although Raph seemed to smarten up a bit after he tried to punch her, but only a bit." Michelangelo said smiling evilly at Raphael.

April looked at Raphael in horror. Raphael looked at the horror on April's face. "Mikey you're making me sound like an abusive boyfriend. It wasn't like that April. " Raphael said hurriedly. "We were sparing..." He began.

"Yeah and she told you to stop, but you didn't, almost got her right in the face when she didn't try to defend herself. It's okay she caught his punch and made him say uncle." Michelangelo laughed.

"Leo looks like he's getting a little rough." April said worriedly.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Michelangelo said with a wave of his hand. "She won't hurt him. Leo probably needs to get his ass kicked again anyway."

"She'd win against Leo?" Casey asked incredulaous. "But she's so tiny, and Leo's got about a hundred pounds on her, not to mention the swords."

"Oh, she'd win against all of us...at the same time...with both arms tied behind her back. If she really tried that is." Michelangelo said happily.

"Hey bro don't you think you better do something about Leo messin' with your girl?" Casey asked.

"She wouldn't thank him if he did." Michelangelo said with a chuckle. "She'd probably kick his ass too." Michelangelo said.

"Do you know what they're fighting about?" Raphael asked him, anger leaking into his voice.

"When does Leo need a reason?" Michelangelo asked. "They've been fighting off and on since last night."

The woman stepped into Leonardo's personal space, Leonardo took a step back. She said something to him and Leonardo nodded. She tried to pull off the trench coat but Leonardo stopped her. Donatello walked out of his workroom and looked at the fighting pair.

"Hey Donny you want to lay odds, looks like Leo's picked a fight again." Michelangelo said with a smile. "Okay, so do you think she's going to be nice or do you think she's going to go hard on him?" Michelangelo asked Donatello.

Donatello looked at the two and sighed. "Eye colour is normal, I'd say she's going to be nice."

Michelangelo studied the pair who were facing off. Leonardo drew his swords. April looked at the two in horror. "But she's unarmed!" She cried.

"Yeah, but Leo still doesn't have the advantage." Donatello said studying the pair. She walked up to Leonardo whose swords were drawn. She touched his shoulder and said something to him. Leonardo's anger became palatable. He pulled back from her touch and said something to her. She looked at him angrily then backed away.

"Hey Raph..." Casey began as he looked at Raphael who was being held back by Donatello. April could see the jealousy burning in his gaze. Casey looked back to Leonardo then back to Raphael. "Hey Raph, I think Leo is interested in your girl." He said in a worried voice.

"Naw, Leo hates her, been ridin her ass since she got here." Michelangelo said looking at Leonardo.

"No seriously bro, look at Leo's face, Leo's jealous. Really jealous." Casey said looking at Raphael. "I may not be too bright, but I know the look of a jealous lover and Leo has it."

"But he fights with her all the time, and he's downright nasty at times, doesn't trust her either." Michelangelo said in confusion.

Casey shrugged. "Maybe Leo doesn't even know it. Or he knows he can't have her."

April looked at her friends who were now all looking at Leonardo with speculation. Donatello let go of Raphael who glared angrily at Leonardo, fists clenched in anger.

The woman crouched low arms held straight out at her sides, head bowed. She almost looked like she was in a very low curtsey, without the dress. "I've never seen that starting position before." Donatello said curiously. "Do you think she will let him keep his weapons or is she going to take them?"

"Hmmm. I'm going to go with take them." Michelangelo said.

"I agree, how long do you think he has with them?" Donatello said looking at the pair.

"With green eyes I vote that she is going to get his weapons...let's say about halfway through the fight." Michelangelo said.

"I'm going to go within the first two moves." Donatello said. "Winner buys the next pizza?"

"Done." Michelangelo shook Donatello's hand.

"Seriously you guys! She could be hurt. How often do they do this that you guys are actually betting!"April asked shocked.

Michelangelo shrugged. "It used to be a few times a week, now it's almost daily."

Leonardo charged. April felt her heart speed up. "Donny you have to stop them, Leo's going to hurt her." She said in a panicked voice.

"She's a warrior April, she can stand up to Leo, believe me. She won't let him hurt her, and she won't hurt him, at least I hope not." Donatello said, worry beginning to enter his expression.

The woman didn't move, even though Leonardo was right on top of her, swords arcing down, and then she moved. She pushed herself backwards putting all of her weight on her back foot. Then she pivoted turning her back towards Leonardo, her arms outstretched. Her body lined up exactly with Leonardo's, her arm ran along his arm, her back along his back. She grabbed his katana and pulled it from his grasp, then she ducked as Leonardo turned and his sword skimmed over her head. She stood and flipped backwards out of Leonardo's reach.

"You lose Mikey." Donatello said to him.

April looked at the woman in shock. The guys were the most graceful creatures she had ever seen move. They were quiet and surefooted, but compared to her Leonardo looked like a bull in a china shop. A very clumsy bull. She moved like a dancer. Each muscle controlled, each movement precise and she moved with graceful sinuous movements that almost seemed sensual. She was also still wearing her heels, which just seemed unfair.

Sword struck sword as they battled furiously. But April noticed that she was constantly on the defence. She didn't seem to be attacking Leonardo at all. As the fight went on though she could see that Leonardo was showing signs of fatigue. Sweat was beginning to run down his body while she looked fresh and perfect, like she just stepped out of a magazine.

"Leo's getting tired, think she's going to go in for the kill or just wait till he drops?" Michelangelo asked.

"Go for the kill, you remember what happened the last time she let him fight till he dropped." Donatello said watching the woman begin to take the offence.

"What happened last time?" April asked, voice faint.

"Leo hurt himself, continued to fight, collapsed, then fell unconscious to the floor. She was so angry with him he ended up on bed rest for three days. Leo was not happy. In fact Leo was probably even worse than Raph, and he got stuck on bed rest for much longer.

"But if Leo didn't want to stay in bed, how did she make him?" April wondered.

"When Goddess says to do something you do it, or she'll make you. At least Leo was smarter than Raph. She ended up tying him to the bed one day. That was hilarious." Michelangelo said laughing.

"For you." Raphael grumbled. "That's right laugh it up chuckles."

"Oh whatever, you liked it." Michelangelo said.

"Yeah, you try being tied to a bed for a whole day." Raphael sneered.

Michelangelo shrugged. "I could see how it might not be such a bad thing in certain situations." Michelangelo said with a wink.

Red bloomed on Raphael's cheeks.

"Oh, here she goes." Michelangelo said turning his attention back to the fighters.

Leonardo was breathing hard, she hadn't even broken a sweat. Leonardo gathered himself up for one last charge. Katana held in both hands he charged her. She charged back, sword held in the same position as Leonardo. The swords struck and she pushed him back a step. He fought to push against her, but she gave a final shove knocking Leonardo to the ground. Sword pointed at his throat Leonardo yielded. He stuck out a hand and she looked at him with surprise. She reached out and helped him up. His face was serious but no longer angry. He kept a hold of her hand as he whispered something in her ear. He glanced at April and Casey and she looked at them as well. Eyes worried she turned back to Leonardo. She shook her head at whatever he said. Leonardo's anger flared again. She said something to him as she touched him gently on the shoulder. He closed his eyes and gave a curt nod.

Raphael clenched his fist in anger. Her eyes swivelled to Raphael and she looked at him eyes worried. "Your rage is leaking again Raphael." She said to him. She gave Leonardo's sword back to him, gave Leonardo's arm a squeeze then walked back to Raphael. Leonardo walked to the bathroom where April heard the shower start.

The woman pulled Raphael aside and whispered something in his ear. His anger drained away and his face grew serious. Raphael nodded, and she walked into Donatello's workroom.

"Looks like something's going down." Michelangelo said hopping off of the back of the couch. Raphael nodded, but walked around to the couch and sat down.

April grabbed Casey and walked a little away from the guys so she could talk with him. "Wow, did you see that April, that chick kicked some serious ass." Casey said in awe. "Man, I can't believe that Raph managed to hook up with such a hottie. I mean you are of course way hotter babe, but...wow."

April looked at Donatello's work room with a worried expression. She loved the guys, but she had never really thought about them in _that _way. She hadn't really thought about it, but could a human actually love the guys? Get past the fact that they were actually giant mutated turtles? Then her mind drifted into the complications of biology, were they actually physically compatible? She shook her head, she was going someplace she didn't even want to go.

"Do you think she's actually _with_ Raphael Casey?" She asked. "I mean, she seems...I don't know, kinda touchy feely with all of them?"

Casey shrugged. "All I know is that I have never seen Raph this laid back. Usually he is itching to fight, and especially if he can't fight anymore Raph should be half crazed with anger. But look at him, he's practically calm. He must be working off all of his frustration in a different way, if you know what I mean, and I would bet you she has something to do with that. I mean look how she handles him." He said in awe.

"That's what worries me." She said quietly. April walked over and grabbed Donatello dragging him to the privacy of the kitchen. She sat him down on a chair."Donny I want to know what's going on right now! Who is that girl? She's...she's...I've never seen anyone move like that. And what is wrong with you guys. You guys are wound so tight you are all like little bombs ready to explode. Raph's been injured bad and almost acting civilized, you look like a kicked puppy, Leo's acting like Raph, and Mikey actually looks sad and worried underneath all of his silliness."

"Things are bad April. Really bad." April looked at Donatello's wounded expression and she sat down on a chair as realization hit her. "Oh God Donny. You love her." She said softly. Donatello put his head in his hands. "Does she know, does Raph know. Do you really think Leo...?" She couldn't even finish the question. The hurt and agony in Donatello's face stopped her. "Donny, does she really feel that way about Raph? She seemed...shocked that he kissed her."

"I don't know," Donatello said with a shake of his head. "Probably. I think that's the first time he ever kissed her. Raph loves her, how can I...April I love her so much it hurts. When I see them together...but then she...when I hold her...Things are really complicated April. I can't even explain it to you without...Raph doesn't know some things. I promised her I wouldn't tell him, but it's getting harder and harder to keep things from him, he's going to find out and he's going to feel like I betrayed him, that she betrayed him."

"Have you betrayed him Donny?" April asked quietly taking his hand. "Yes...no...April, you don't know what Raph went through. He went through so much and she is the only thing that has kept him sane, and he is still suffering. But how can I deny my feelings for her?"

"But Donny, if she's cheating on Raph with you..." She began.

He shook his head. "You don't understand April, it's not like that. Raph doesn't have her, I don't have her, that's the problem, I don't know if any of us even _can_ have her. But Raph _needs_ her." He whispered turning his head to the side and closing his eyes.

She looked at him. "What do you mean _can_ have her, you mean like...you guys and she aren't...you know?"

Donatello looked at her in confusion, then heat flooded his face as he figured out what she was talking about. Donatello coughed. "No that's not what I mean, we're um...compatible." His blush faded. "She's just...so much more than us..." He said.

"Who is she Donny?"

"The _who_ is less important than the _what_." Leonardo said as he sat down in a chair to her left. April jumped. "I don't want you or Casey involved in this April." Leonardo growled as Casey and Raphael walked over and joined them at the table. Donatello avoided looking at Raphael. April looked around and noticed that Michelangelo had gone missing. Leonardo continued talking. "She thinks you should know what is going on, but she says you can't become involved."

"Who is she Leo?" April asked. A slow dread was beginning to creep over her.

"If we had her name we would give it to you." Leonardo said bitterly.

"Leo, what are you talking about, her name is..." Raphael said in confusion.

"That's not her name!" Leonardo said as he stood up angrily. "'Never give your name to a being of power.' That's what she told us. She told us 'you may call me,' she didn't say 'my name is.'"

"She didn't give you her real name?"April asked in surprise.

"She didn't trust us enough to give us her name." Leonardo said angrily. But under the anger April could hear the hurt in his voice.

"It is true." The woman's voice floated over April's shoulder, "I gave you the name that was chosen for me, not the name I was born...no she was born..." April turned and looked at the woman who walked in and felt herself pale.

The woman looked confused, and shook her head as if to clear it. Her expression cleared and she looked at April steadily. Gone was the cute woman with the warm smile, instead a warrior stood in her place, and she wasn't human. April leapt from her chair and stumbled backwards.

The woman had the ears of a lynx jutting out from the top of her head; huge black bat wings arched from her back and a distinctly reptilian tail slowly moved from side to side. She wore clawed gauntlets and shoulder guards covered her shoulders. Her clothing was minimal, a black bra and some strips of white linen wrapped around her torso in a criss-cross pattern. A long flowing linen skirt, slit up the sides and back. Shin guards covered black knee high boots. Two swords stuck out over her shoulders ends poking out of the black cloak where it had been slit to accommodate her wings. Michelangelo stood beside her in his Turtle Titan costume.

She should have been horrifying, and yet with all of this she was still the most beautiful woman April had ever seen. It was then she understood what Michelangelo had meant when he had said that 'she wouldn't hurt Leo.' The power and silent menace that rolled off of the woman was a tangible beast that made the hairs on the back of April's arms and neck stand up. The feeling was at its core visceral.

Slung over the woman's arm she carried Leonardo's trench coat. "I cannot have you involved." The woman said to her and Casey. "I do not believe I would be able to protect you." She walked over to Leonardo and gave him his trench coat. Leonardo took it wordlessly. She then turned to Raphael, leaned down and touched his mask. "May I?" She asked. Raphael nodded as she removed his mask. "Thank you Raphael." She said touching his face lovingly. He stood up and tied the mask around her eyes. He touched her cheek, tilted her chin up and kissed her. She brought both arms around his neck and kissed him back.

"Go kick some ass for me." Raphael whispered. She smiled at him and Raphael sat back down in his chair. The effect of Raphael's mask made the woman even more menacing, all black and white with a slash of blood red across her eyes.

"Nice." Michelangelo said happily. "Now you just need an awesome super hero name." Michelangelo said with excitement as he grabbed her around the waist pulling her in close. She smiled up at Michelangelo, but April noticed the possessiveness of the grip he had on her waist.

"This is not time to be playing dress-up Mikey." Leonardo said angrily.

The woman just shrugged and smiled showing vicious fangs. "When in Rome."

April felt herself start with surpise. Shehadn't noticed the fangs before.

"Don't worry April she doesn't bite...much" Michelangelo said with a laugh.

"She'll bite you if keep bugging her Mikey." Raphael said in an annoyed voice.

Donatello looked at the woman worry written on his face.

"Only if he asks nicely." She said with a wink, her voice dripping in sexual innuendo.

April looked at Raphael who was sitting at the table, arms crossed. He looked a little irritated that Michelangelo was still holding her, but he didn't seem jealous of him. Leonardo looked at her angrily. She disengaged herself from Michelangelo's grip and walked over to Leonardo and placed a hand on his shoulder. He flinched back from her touch. "I am only joking Leonardo." She looked at Michelangelo and said, "Harbinger."

"Huh?" Michelangelo said.

She laughed. "It means, omen, a herald, a forerunner. You know like the Harbinger of Doom, that sort of thing. It's my sidekick name." She said with a smile at Michelangelo.

"Nice one." Michelangelo said. "And I get my own sidekick! This is going to be awesome."

Leonardo slammed his fist onto the table. "This is not a game Michelangelo."

"Be calm Leonardo. I will protect him. The demon that we will be hunting is not like the Syna. It is non-corporeal. It will be no match for me, even as I am now."

"Whoa, what do you mean demon?" Casey asked in confusion.

"Ignorance is not always bliss Leonardo, sometimes it just gets you killed faster. Tell them what I am, what we hunt this night, and then let them leave. The further away they are, the less likely they will be hurt." She looked at Michelangelo and motioned for them to go. They walked a few steps ahead.

Leonardo stood and grabbed her shoulder leaning in he whispered, in a voice full of menace. "If you let anything happen to him..." She looked at him over her shoulder, lips almost touching, and brought her hand up touching his face lightly. Leonardo closed his eyes at her touch. "I will not fail Michelangelo as I failed Raphael, and if I do it is only because I am dead." She said, softly to him. She leaned in and kissed him. She turn and she began to walk away.

April looked at Leonardo's face which was full of shock, torment and need. He managed to remove all traces of it before he returned to the table. April's gaze swung to Raphael who had obviously missed her kissing Leonardo. April knew that she was the only one who had seen what that particular encounter had cost Leonardo.

April jumped up from the table and ran to the woman's side. "Can I have a word?" She asked grabbing the woman by the arm and dragging her into Donatello's workroom. This woman scared her. There was something about her that knew she was dangerous, but they way she interacted with the guys she knew she would never hurt them, at least not physically. Well April had never been a shrinking violet so she had better just come out and say what she had to say. "Alright, I don't know who you are, or what's going on, but they are my friends and I won't stand by and let you break their hearts."

The woman looked at her and April had to force herself to keep eye contact with her. "I love them, with all my heart, but I cannot promise that their hearts will not break. All I can promise you is that I will protect them with my life." She touched April's shoulder as she walked past, metal claws scraping along her skin.

"Who do you love? You can't just string them along, if you love Raph be with him, if it's Donny, be with him, or with Leo or even with Mikey, but you can't let them go on this way. I don't care what's going on, Donny and Leo's hearts are breaking."

"April, I already told you who I love, and you, like them, still wish me to choose one. With what and who I am...You do not understand, just as they would not understand." She closed her eyes. "Unfortunately right now, this is so much bigger than me or them." She said as she opened her eyes and began to walk from the room. "Do not think that it is only their hearts that are breaking." She whispered as she walked out of the workroom and exited the lair with Michelangelo.

April followed.

Leonardo sat at the table, defeat written in every line of his body. April sat back down and her and Casey listened as Leonardo told the story of Raphael's encounter with the demon Syna, and the goddess' theory on the goings on in Hell, and a possible Apocalypse. The tale made her head hurt. "I want to stay and help." She said, her voice quavering

"The best way you can help April is to not be here. These Demons are fast and will eat you. It is bad enough that she has to protect all of us, adding two more people that she has to look out for is unfair to her." Donatello said in a reasonable voice. "Don't worry April, I'll keep you informed as to what is going on." April nodded and had to be content. Her and Casey left an hour later. She felt devastated. Her friends were in danger and they were hurting. And poor Raphael, he had been killed. It was no wonder the guys were trying to leave the goddess for him, but she had said she had already told her who she loved, but she had said all of them. April felt confused and hurt and frightened.

And then of course demons and the Apocalypse, it was almost too much to take in. Her and Casey didn't talk the whole way home. All she could hope for was that Donatello would keep her informed, but she knew she wouldn't rest easy until all of this was over.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**Michelangelo** looked out at the darkened city and felt the rush of excitement he always did when he donned the clothes of his alter ego. He looked at the goddess at his side and felt the silent menace that rolled off of her dark waves of anticipation. Her eyes reflected in the dark like those of a cat, and watching her move was like watching a predator stalk its prey. She wore her predatory nature like a cloak, lovingly wrapped around her, or maybe it was that she let the cloak of humanity she wore for their benefit, fall.

The Silver Sentry landed next to him. "You wanted to talk Turtle Titan?" He asked.

Michelangelo nodded. "We wanted to talk to you about Dr. Malignus." He said gruffly trying to convey a sense of authority he rarely possessed. "Have you had any leads on where he is?" Michelangelo asked.

"Who is we?" The Silver Sentry asked curiously.

"This is my sidekick, The Harbinger." Michelangelo said proudly as he motioned to the still form of the goddess beside him. Her wings were folded under her cloak and her hood covered her ears, making her almost appear human...almost. Raphael's mask seemed to add a spectral glow to her skin which gave lie to the deception of her being anything remotely human.

The Silver Sentry looked at her doubtfully. "We aren't recruiting right now." He said stiffly.

Her pink lips rose in a smile. "Do not worry, I am only The Turtle Titan's. I have no interest in joining your group."

Michelangelo felt burning heat fill him when said that she was his. Even though he knew it wasn't what she meant, it still made him feel possessive of her.

The Silver Sentry looked at her. "Can she keep up?" He asked.

"I'd be more worried about not being able to keep up with her." Michelangelo said with a smile.

"If you say so." The Silver Sentry said turning his attention back to Michelangelo.

The goddess watched the skies, seemingly unconcerned with the conversation they were having.

"We have checked all of Dr. Malignus' hideouts." The Silver Sentry informed him. "But have come up empty. We will have to wait until he surfaces again."

"We are close to where he robbed that convenience store right?" Michelangelo asked.

"Yes, but he would be a fool to rob the same place twice." The Silver Sentry began.

"There is a disturbance four blocks over." The goddess said pointing in the direction of the convenience store.

The Silver Sentry looked at him. "Super hearing." He said lamely. The Silver Sentry took to the air, and the goddess watched him go.

She looked to him. "Do you want a lift or are you going to use your grappling hook?"

"I think I will run the rooftops." He said. She nodded and ran with him. They kept pace with The Silver Sentry in the sky. They stopped on the rooftop overlooking the convenience store which was on the other side of the street.

The Silver Sentry looked at them. "That's him alright." He said of the man who looked more insect than human.

"I suspect his inside probably matches his outside now." The goddess said grimly.

Dr. Malignus ran from the convenience store, stolen goods in hand. He ran down the street ducking into a nearby alley. The Silver Sentry leapt down to confront Dr. Malignus.

Michelangelo looked to his left where the goddess had been and discovered that she was no longer there.

"Dr. Malignus, your nights of crime will now come to an end." The Silver Sentry said heroically.

Michelangelo leapt down to land beside the Silver Sentry. Grappling hook in hand he stared at The Silver Sentry's archenemy who was gulping back slushes like they were going out of style.

"Whoa, what's with the slushes? First Twinkies, now slushes." Michelangelo asked in confusion.

Dr Malignus looked up and tossed the empty containers away. "Oh goody, fun." He said menacingly. Then he _moved. _One minute he was at the end of the alley, the next he hit the Silver Sentry in the stomach pushing him back and sending him flying into the wall.

"Ouch." Michelangelo winced. Then watched in horror as Dr. Malignus turned his attention towards him. Dr. Malignus' head turned one eighty while his body still faced the Silver Sentry. "Holy exorcist Batman." Michelangelo squeaked in terror. He turned and ran, trying to lead Dr. Malignus away from the Silver Sentry who was just beginning to pull himself from the wall.

The goddess appeared in front of him, and he had to screech to a halt so he didn't run into her. "Naughty, naughty." She purred. "Rule number one, human necks are not supposed to turn that way." She said as she crossed her arms over her ample chest.

Dr. Malignus ripped his mask off, leaving a slavering drooling maw that looked less than human. "More fun." He said as his body followed to line up again with his head.

"Erk" Michelangelo said frightened.

She advanced towards Dr. Malignus, he _moved _again, but then, so did she. He saw flashes of the combatants when they stilled, but everything else was more a sense of movement and flashes of colour. She seemed to be more on the defensive than offensive. She hadn't drawn her swords, so Michelangelo assumed that she was playing with him, and judging by the maliciously gleeful smile on her face, she was enjoying herself.

The Silver Sentry stood beside him and watched them fight. "Do you think you could convince her to join?" He asked.

Michelangelo shook his head. "I don't think The Harbinger is interested. I don't think she plays well with others." He said with a smile.

She stopped moving and looked at Dr. Malignus. "Well as much fun as that was I think play time is over." She said with a smile. She _moved _obviously faster than even Dr. Malginus could see because one minute he was standing close to the alley wall, the next he was pinned to it, blue sword sticking out of his heart. He looked at her in shock. "Who are you?" He whispered.

The Silver Sentry moved to stop her, but Michelangelo put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "He's fine. It's not Dr. Malignus that she wants, it's the demon inside him." He said with a shrug.

"Demon?" He asked.

"Long story." Michelangelo answered turning his attention back to the goddess and the demon.

She pulled her hood back and removed her mask. "Andora, Goddess of Magic" She said fangs bared into a silky sweet and deadly smile. "Of course you demons call me The Golden Goddess"

The demon began sobbing and babbling in a language that Michelangelo couldn't understand.

"As long as this sword remains you will be unable to jump bodies, so don't bother trying." She said as she slowly drew her other sword, the really creepy one. Menace leaked off of the sword and Michelangelo swore that the temperature in the alley dropped several degrees. Her wings rose from under her cape her tail slowly moving from side to side. "Now I should very much like some answers." She said sweetly while lovingly caressing the blade of her sword. He was shaking his head, and talking to her in that funny language again. "Oh I do so love a loyal demon, they are so rare nowadays." She grabbed him by the helmet and put her sword to his neck. "You see my poor sword hasn't tasted blood for a whole two months, and because you inhabit a human body it won't get to taste blood this night either. However, if you will notice the soul currently screaming within this blade, well, I think it may be lonely, and I would hate to disappoint the poor demon whose soul I have bound in here. He will possibly be a nice snack for later, and after all, two snacks are by far better than one."

"Who is this woman?" The Silver Sentry asked with fear in his voice.

Michelangelo looked at him and shrugged. "The Harbinger." He said.

The demon quivered and spoke again.

"Who is leading the rebellion?" She asked. He shook his head then squeaked when she pressed the sword closer. She then began talking in the same language the words flowing fast. He replied and nodded vigorously. She then pulled the sword from his body. Dr Malignus went limp as a red light floated out of his body. She caught it in her hand. She opened her clawed hands then blew on it. It disappeared.

"How can you trust what he said?" Michelangelo asked.

"I don't." She sheathed her swords and picked up Dr. Malignus as if he weighed nothing. She handed him over to The Silver Sentry. "He'll be fine...maybe...eventually. He was probably half crackers to start off with." She said with a shrug. "Thank you for your help." She said walking away.

"There's one thing I don't get." Michelangelo said as he followed her, leaving the stunned Silver Sentry in their wake.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Why Twinkies and slushes?"

'That's easy. They don't have sugary things in Hell. Too sweet, get it." She said with a smile. "Demons also can't stand the cold. Having a human body would enable him to drink a sugary sweet cold drink. Must have been like a little taste of heaven for him. Pardon the pun." She said laughing.

Michelangelo turned serious. "So now what?"

The goddess contemplated her the question before answering. "If there are demons running away from Hell, that means things are really bad. It is bound to spill over onto the mortal plain very quickly. The problem is I don't know what Heaven is doing about it. Heaven can't just send Angels into Hell and fight it out with them. Angels are at their weakest in Hell."

"How does that work?" He asked in confusion.

"Like me Heaven and Hell must always be in balance. You can't have the angels able to just go and bust down Hells door any time they feel like it. Same with Heaven, the further from Hell the demons get the weaker they get. Keeps the powers in balance. Heaven isn't too eager to war with Hell though, which is shown by the fact that they didn't attack when Hell was at its most vulnerable after my last visit." She paused in thought.

"What do you mean like you?" Michelangelo asked.

"I am the goddess of magic. Within me rages the forces of dark and light magic. I must always remain in balance. All of my feelings, all of my emotions must remain perfectly in check. No anger, no love, no happiness, no sadness, all emotions within me have to remain shuttered up. At least they normally had to be. Cut off from my godhood like I am, I haven't had to worry about being consumed by the evil, or going all evil as I like to think of it. For the first time in a millennia, I have actually been able to...feel something." She whispered.

"Going all evil? And what do you mean feel something?" Michelangelo asked. An ill feeling washing over him.

"If I felt anything, any strong emotion at all, I could end up losing myself. I am powerful enough to destroy worlds Michelangelo. I have gone bad before and the experience was not pleasant. Don't misunderstand, I was not emotionless. I could be happy, but not joyous, I could be angry, but not livid, I could experience love, but not _be_ in love."

"What do you mean you have gone bad before? Are we talking like..." He began.

She laughed cutting him off. "Much worse than when the Silver Sentry was manipulated by those robotic bugs." She said to him. "I consumed a demon soul, which threw me out of balance. I was...newer then, and I was not able to control what it did to me. I lost who and what I was and almost destroyed the Warrior Legions of Heaven. Luckily I regained my balance and destroyed most of Hell's Legions instead, but the point is...The darkness always wishes for something." She said softly as she looked up into the night sky.

They walked in silence on the way home. Her face became more grim the closer to home they got. She had always seemed so controlled with her emotions. She was emotional, but now he realized now that she had been slowly changing. Her emotions were now more open. He looked at her grim face and thought about not being able to _feel _anything. No strong emotions, no joy, no real love; going through a thousand years of not feeling anything. _But why was it only the past thousand years? _He wondered. _The only thing she said had happened was...her guardians had died and she had almost been.._.He felt ill. _Something had obviously happened to her when her guardians had died_. He thought to himself.

He shook these thoughts from his mind pulling her to a stop before they entered the lair. She looked at him curiously. Michelangelo pulled off his cowl and looked at her earnestly. He gathered his courage to say what he had to. "I know you don't love me like you do Raph or Donny, probably even Leo. I could never compete with them, I'm just the goofball. But I just wanted to tell you, before you chose one of them, that I love you." He whispered as he touched her cheek lightly. Her skin felt like the softest velvet and he memorized the feel because he knew that he would never feel it again. He turned and walked towards the entrance of the lair before he could see the expression on the goddess' face.

He felt her grab his arm stopping him. He turned to face her, expecting a rejection. "Never sell yourself short Michelangelo. You are so much more than just the goofball of the group." She touched his face lovingly, brushing her lips across his. "But we have more pressing concerns."

"What like the Apocalypse? Pssht. No problem. I eat Apocalypses for breakfast every second morning." He said with a smile, trying to cover up his confusion. He looked at her as a flash of something crossed her face and she suddenly went limp. He grabbed onto her, surprised at the delicacy of her body. She shook her head as if trying to clear it.

"Are you okay?" He asked with concern. She was silent then shook her head negative. "Donny's blood hasn't been enough has it?" He asked.

She looked at him in shock, then smiled. "Comic book theory?"

"Monster movie theory." He corrected her. "Donny's been pale, tired, and gulping down iron pills like there's no tomorrow. And the only vampire I know is you, so I figured he had been feeding you." He paused as a thought struck him. "Leo found out didn't he? That's why he has been going nuts since yesterday." She nodded. He touched her face. "You need more blood don't you?" He asked.

"If you knew Donny was feeding me then why didn't you say anything?" She asked instead. He made a mental note not to drop the question.

He shrugged. "It wasn't any of my business."

She smirked at him. "You need more blood don't you?" She turned her head away.

"I am starving." She whispered. "It has taken more blood to heal the wounds the Syna gave me than I had thought possible. I haven't taken that much blood from Donatello , but I guess I never had to deal with only my ability to heal as a vampire, as opposed to healing with my magical abilities."

"The Binding." Michelangelo said, voice worried. He had forgotten about the Binding that cut her off from her godhood. It's not like he actually forgot, but, he supposed he just didn't really think about it. But a slow dread seemed to seep into him.

She shrugged. "We have demons to worry about Michelangelo." She said to him.

He tried to turn his thoughts to demons, but he couldn't shake the feeling that she was avoiding the subject of her Binding. He walked with her into the lair, his mind too full of too many frantic thoughts.

He glanced up and watched as Raphael walked over to the goddess. She looked up at him, but looked distracted. Donatello and Leonardo chose that moment to walk up to them.

Raphael pulled the goddess into an embrace, stroking her face gently. "Well?" Raphael asked.

Michelangelo looked at Raphael and felt a twinge of jealousy, This was followed by overwhelming guilt as he remembered that moments ago the goddess had kissed Michelangelo outside of the lair. The enormity of her kissing him rolled over him and he realized that he had gone behind his brother's back and told the girl his brother loved, that he was in love with her.

She shook her head oblivious to his inner turmoil.. "Hell is embroiled in a civil war."

"So now what?" Raphael asked as he moved around behind her pulling her into him. She looked up at him, her face worried.

Michelangelo looked at his brothers. Donatello looked hurt and Leonardo looked fit to explode with jealousy. Michelangelo closed his eyes in despair. _We are so screwed_. He thought to himself. They were all in love with her, and three out of four brothers were going to have their hearts ripped out, if she even decided to choose one of them.

Michelangelo tore himself away from his gloomy thoughts and turned his attention back to the goddess.

"I don't want to get involved, I'm not in any sort of condition to be involved, but I can't just sit back and do nothing..." She ran a clawed hand through her hair. "I need to think." She broke away from Raphael and began to pace. She stopped and looked at them, an inscrutable expression on her face. "Lucifer is in trouble." She whispered almost to herself. She seemed upset about this. "He doesn't know who the traitor is, which means that the rebels are probably waiting for the perfect moment to kill him." A look flashed over her face, worry mixed with something else.

"What I don't understand is why you want to help the Devil?" Michelangelo said crossing his arms.

"If Lucifer dies, the Apocalypse will start. I can't let anything happen to him." She said finally. She paused in thought. "I need to go." She said reaching a decision.

"Where are you going?" Donatello asked in worry.

"To find an angel, or a demon, there must be a few running around somewhere." She turned and walked slowly from the lair.

Raphael looked at his brothers and shrugged. They had no choice but to wait until she came back. "What happened Mikey?" Raphael asked.

Michelangelo looked surprised. "What happened when?" He asked trying to get his thoughts in order and not look as guilty as he felt.

"What do you mean when? When you found the demon, or has that cowl you wear melted your brain?" Raphael asked.

"Right that." Michelangelo said as he rubbed his head, distracted. He looked at Raphael, a new wave of guilt crashing over him. _Raphael thought that the goddess had chosen him, and if that was true, why had she kissed him?_ He pulled his thoughts together and answered Raphael's question. "We found the demon. She fought with him and she managed to pin him to the wall with that blue blade of hers. She was asking him who the traitor was but, I don't really know, they started talking in a funny language and I couldn't understand them."

"So what's this angel going to tell her that the demon didn't." Raphael asked.

Michelangelo shrugged. "She wants to know what Heaven is going to do about the war, but she doesn't think that it will be much."

"So what, Heaven won't help her, protect her in any way?" Raphael asked angrily.

Michelangelo shrugged. "I guess that is why she needs to talk to an angel." He looked at Raphael. "Raph," He began. Raphael looked at him. Michelangelo lost his nerve. "Never mind." He finally said. Raphael looked at him questioningly, but Michelangelo just shook his head. Raphael left his brothers in frustration. Michelangelo looked at Raphael's retreating back. He looked angry, frustrated...and scared.

Michelangelo followed Donatello into his workroom. "Oh, hey Mikey, what's up?" Donatello asked as he walked to his workbench. "She hasn't chosen Raph." He said leaning against the workbench, arms crossed staring at the other wall.

Donatello stilled then began picking up bits and pieces of scrap. "Yes she has Mikey." He answered softly, his voice laced with hurt.

Michelangelo was quiet for a few minutes. "So what's it like to have her bite you?" Donatello dropped a piece of metal and blushed. Donatello looked at him wide eyed. "So how good does it feel, because I am assuming it feels good by that blush." Donatello got redder. "Wow that good huh? Are we talking first base, second base or...wow third base good. So let me get this straight, Raph just managed to get to first base, and you have been sitting on third for about a month now."

"It..it's not like that Mikey." Donatello managed to stutter out.

"No? Then how is it like?"

"Her bite feels good Mikey, but I haven't touched her, not in that way."

"Have you kissed her?" Michelangelo asked.

Donatello was silent, then shook his head. "And you think she has picked Raph?"

"She won't take my blood anymore." Donatello whispered.

"Cause she doesn't want to kill you. Besides she just kissed Leo just before we left. You should have seen Leo's face. Raph didn't see of course."

"What do you mean she just kissed Leo?" Donatello asked shocked.

"I could see what happened. It was when Leo was threatening her to make sure she looked after me. He was right there in her face so she just kissed him, very lightly. Leo didn't know what to do, just backed off, but he kinda had this look on his face, like...I don't know...like he was conflicted." He paused in thought. "Then she just kissed me before we came into the lair." He whispered. Donatello looked at him in shock. "It wasn't a big kiss Donny so quit looking at me like that." He said with a wave of his hand. "I'm worried about her Donny." Michelangelo said, finally getting around to what he had to talk to Donatello about. He had a nagging feeling that something was wrong with Goddess.

"She needs more blood," Michelangelo began. "But she won't take anymore. She said that she is starving, so why isn't she taking my blood, or Raph's blood? When I asked her about her Binding, she changed the subject."

"So we need to ask her about this Binding when she gets back." Donatello said to him.

"Yah, if she doesn't manage to find some way around answering us." Michelangelo grumbled. He then told Donatello everything she had told him about the balance between Heaven and Hell, and her own internal balance, her having been unable to actually feel any strong emotions and her consuming the demon soul that had thrown her out of balance once.

"If you had gone a thousand years without being able to feel, anything, then suddenly you were able to indulge in all of the emotions you were never able to, what do you think would happen?" Donatello asked.

Michelangelo shook his head. She was still very controlled, but it might go a little way to explaining why she had kissed him, and Leonardo, maybe even why she let Raphael kiss her. He looked at Donatello worriedly.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Leonardo tried tailing her when she left the lair, but he lost her a few minutes after she took to the air. It was then that he realized that she had _let_ him tail her. If she had wanted she could have lost him whenever she wanted. But she had a usual route so he ran the roof tops looking for any sign of her. He never did find her and after two hours of searching he gave up and went home. He paused outside of the lair putting his head against cold stone. She had kissed him. It was the gentlest of kisses but it had ripped him down to his core. He pushed himself from the wall and entered the lair.

As he entered the living room the sounds of fighting and yelling reached his ears. He followed the sounds to Raphael's room. The other night had been a rough one for Raphael, but he hadn't been violent in weeks. He ran through the door was confronted by Raphael who had managed to somehow rip open all of his wounds. Blood ran down his body as he fought off his brothers. Blood spattered on the wall as he hit Donatello. Donatello flew backwards and hit Leonardo. The two tumbled out of the room. The goddess, face severe, stepped over them. Leonardo scrambled out from under Donatello, rushing back into the room. "Damn it!." She cried out as Raphael let out another roar of anger. His emotions ranged anywhere from abject terror, to absolute despair, to blistering rage. Right now Raphael was consumed by a terrified rage. He was seeing something that none of them could see or even understand. But he believed he was fighting for his life.

"Raphael can you hear me?" Leonardo questioned while he looked at the goddess. He needed to make sure she wasn't going to go into a blood lust fuelled feeding frenzy. However the goddess looked more troubled than hungry.

"He is in the middle of his nightmare, we won't be able to reach him. He is really bad, he hasn't been this bad since that first night." She said to him as Raphael backed himself into the corner of his room. "You have to tell him Leonardo, you have to let me help him. Look at him Leonardo, he is terrified." Leonardo did look and Raphael's face was a mask of terror that broke his heart to gaze upon, but to let her help, let her do what?

"What can you do, I can't let you play with his mind against his will." Leonardo asked in a quiet voice. "If you would actually let us tell him how badly he is Leo, maybe he would let her help him." Donatello said in an angry voice. Donatello rarely ever went against him, but in this Leonardo knew Donatello had absolutely opposed his decision to keep from Raphael what went on almost every night. The goddess was looking at him from over her shoulder arms held out to Raphael in a placating manner.

It was then that time slowed. "Die!" Raphael yelled as he lunged at her, sais arcing down in his clenched fists. Michelangelo moved as the goddess tried to move.

"Michelangelo no!" The goddess yelled. But it was too late. The sound of metal running through soft flesh reverberated through the room.

The goddess and Raphael were looking at each other almost frozen in a tableau. You could see the exact moment when Raphael woke up from his nightmare and entered a new one. Raphael blinked in confusion as he stared into the goddess' eyes. They were an explosion of colour, a ring of green in the centre, then bright amber, then sky blue. Leonardo watched as Raphael looked at Michelangelo whose expression of pain and surprise confused him. He looked down and followed his arms to his hands which were holding tightly to his sais. But both sais were embedded in flesh. Blood ran down one pale body and one green one. His left hand sai was embedded in Michelangelo's shoulder on the left side just above his shell, the other sai was plunged deeply through cross shaped scars into the goddess' heart. "Goddess." He choked out. He looked in horror at his hands and letting go of the sais embedded in both her body and Michelangelo's. She slumped to her knees. Raphael stumbled away from her, falling to the ground he backed up until he hit the far wall. He looked wildly around the room his gaze falling on Michelangelo who was mirroring his position on the floor.

"Mikey!" He choked out as he looked around in confused horror.

Leonardo and Donatello who had been shocked into immobility moved towards him. "Stay away from me!" He yelled as Leonardo advanced towards the goddess. Donatello knelt down examining Michelangelo. Michelangelo was staring at the world with glassy eyes. He wasn't even screaming in pain, which meant he was in shock.

Leonardo's felt his face contort with rage. He looked at Michelangelo then at the fallen goddess. "What did you do Raphael!" He yelled at him as he picked her up in his arms. Her skin was paler than usual. She closed her eyes. Then opened them, revealing bright almost luminous green eyes.

"Enough Leonardo, we do not have time for this." The goddess said as she struggled to remove herself from his arms. She stood up and ripped the sai from her heart. She winced in pain as she dropped the weapon to the floor. Her blood began vanishing into a fine black mist from the pointed blade of the sai. She staggered over to Michelangelo.

Donatello shook his head. "I don't...can you help him." Donatello's voice cracked.

She fell when she reached him. "There is an artery that runs right where the sai is, don't remove it." She got up and staggered over to Raphael.

He looked at her in terror. He was breathing hard and didn't know what was going on. "I didn't mean...I don't know..."He tried to move himself into the wall as she approached him.

Her hands moved over his wounds. "It is okay Raphael. Michelangelo will be fine, and so will you." She stroked his face, but even this gesture did not calm him. "What have I done, What have I done, What have I done?" Raphael repeated over and over. She stood up and stumbled to Leonardo. "Hate me later Leonardo, but I am fixing this now, and my way." She whispered to him. Leonardo flushed in anger. She touched his chest, eyes full of pain. There was still a gaping hole where she had pulled Raphael's sai from her chest. "They are going to bleed to death, both of them." Suddenly she wasn't touching him to calm him but rather she was leaning into him as he caught her. He felt terror them, that he was about to lose Michelangelo, Raphael, and...her. His chest grew tight as she regained her footing. She pushed away from him and stumbled to Michelangelo. She looked at Leonardo, fear, pain and determination was reflected in steady moss green eyes. She was asking his permission.

Raphael looked around him and tried to stand. Donatello leapt to his feet and grabbed him. "Donny what's going on?" He asked in confusion. He looked like he was struggling to breathe.

"Leo he's going into shock!" Donatello screamed.

"What do you intend to do." Leonardo asked unable to hide the fear in his voice.

"Do you trust me?" She asked. Did he? Did he trust her enough to place his brothers lives in her hands. But he already knew the answer was yes. He nodded and looked away so she wouldn't see the tears forming in his eyes. She untied her gauntlets and pulled them from her hands. "Michelangelo this is going to be really gross for you, but you have to trust me that this is the only thing I can do for you. If I pull this sai out right now, you will die. Do you understand?" She asked him. He looked at her dazedly, but nodded.

She brought her wrist up and bit down. Blood welled up from the wound. "You need to drink this okay."

"But..." Michelangelo began as she shoved her wrist in his open mouth. He tried to pull back but she held his head firmly.

"My blood has healing powers, it will give you the ability to heal your wounds." She waited a few moments as Michelangelo drank and drank and drank. Finally Michelangelo's focus sharpened. She pulled her arm away.

Michelangelo glanced at her and said, "That was all kinds of gross" With that she grabbed the handle of the sai and pulled. Michelangelo screamed in pain. She pushed against the wound which had begun to bleed profusely. She waited a few moments then pulled her hand away revealing healed flesh. She turned her attention to Raphael.

He looked at her blurrily. "Mikey's going to be okay?" He asked in a slurred voice. "Are you...are you , I hurt you." He said voice breaking.

"He'll be fine Raphael. You're going to be fine too." She said to him. He closed his eyes.

Donatello grabbed Raphael as he fell over. "He's slipping into unconsciousness. " He looked at the goddess as she looked at Raphael grimly.

"He needs to be conscious. " She shook him and Raphael blearily opened his eyes. "Stay with me Raphael." She bit into her right wrist again. She then used her gauntlets and sliced open her left palm. She held her wrist to Raphael's mouth and got him to drink. With her palm she began spreading the blood across his wounds. He drank longer than Michelangelo, and as he drank she began to grow paler and paler

Raphael's gaze sharpened as he came back to himself. She pulled her wrist away from his mouth and he looked at her. The pain in his eyes was tangible. He opened his mouth to speak and she cut him off. She looked away and said "I am sorry Raphael." She grabbed the air above the empty scabbard that ran down the center of her back and pulled a sword from it. The glow from the sword infused the room with a brilliant white light. She brought the sword down and drove it into Raphael's heart.

"No!" Leonardo screamed, as he leapt at her. Donatello leapt up to stop him. "Let me go Donny, she just..."

"Is trying to help him. Trust her Leo. I know you trust her.

Leonardo stopped struggling.

They were trapped in a frozen tableau. They were staring into each other's eyes unblinking, like they were in a trance. He looked over his shoulder as Michelangelo stood up. He moved his shoulder and smiled, but his smile disappeared as he looked at the pair on the floor. The goddess looked around at the room she was in. She was in Raphael's heart and mind. She needed to find his Soul Room and have a look at his soul. She should have arrived within his Soul room, but wasn't surprised when she didn't. Knowing Raphael he wasn't going to make this easy for her.

She looked around the room, it was sparse, but looked an awful lot like the lair, with Sparring dummies, a workout space, a couch, and a bed. A motorcycle was parked in the corner along with a pair of rollerblades, and a pile of comic books. She had never seen Raphael read any comic books but it was possible it was a closet hobby. A big screen TV playing a wrestling match was positioned in front of the couch.

Each person's mind was different and each person had a different mindscape, that place in your mind where you lived...not really the right word, more what makes you, happy, or reminds you of home, a comfortable space where your mind rests. At least that is what she was assuming this place was, but it could also be Raphael's Memory Room, where all of his memories were stored.

She walked around looking for the exit. She didn't want to snoop. This is the reason why she had told Raphael she was sorry. She was literally peeking into his soul and she didn't want to violate his privacy. She walked past the TV stopped and backed up, Raphael was on the TV holding up a wrestling belt. She smiled, then stilled as she felt a presence behind her. She turned to find Raphael sitting on the couch TV remote in hand, both arms were thrown over the back of the couch.

Some minds had booby traps others had guardians, but apparently Raphael's had Dark Raphael. That part of his personality that was probably responsible for his anger, his decisions to kill or destroy. He was literally the devil on Raphael's shoulder trying to get him to do the things that he shouldn't. Not every mind had a negative Super-ego, if you wanted to get all Freudian, but apparently Raphael's did. "You like that, you should see what's on Raphael's triple X channel." Dark Raphael said with a smile. He looked like Raphael, talked like Raphael, but there was something about him that was not Raphael. A confidence that Raphael didn't actually possess, a sense of belonging in the world, and a silent menace that rolled down his skin. Dark Raphael wore tattered faded black jeans and a black t-shirt was stretched over his muscular frame. His bare feet were crossed at the ankle in his lounging position. His ninja mask and belt were black. He lounged with his sais tucked into the right side of his belt. He also wore a black leather trench coat and black fedora accented with grey. "Hello Dark Raphael." She said as a fission of awareness went through her. She had always been attracted to Raphael, but Dark Raphael sat looking at her with a heat and intensity that she had never seen on Raphael's face. He smiled arrogantly as if he knew what she was thinking and turned the channel. He patted the spot on the couch next to him invitingly. She ignored him and instead turned to see what Dark Raphael had put on the TV.

And this was exactly the reason she hated going into people's minds and snooping because, sometimes, just sometimes you managed to glimpse something you really shouldn't see because it is private and personal, and sometimes, it involves you. She felt herself backing up bringing the picture into focus. Her knees hit the cushion of the couch. A hand reached up and grabbed her pulling her down beside him.

"Dark Raphael, I like that." He said as he looked back to the TV screen. "This is the centre of Raphael's fantasies, quite a few of which you have come to have a starring role." Dark Raphael said with a smile. The two figures were twined together on a bed, his body rose over hers, sweat dripping down his body as she arched against him. "Wow." She said. She tipped her head sideways, "That looked like an interesting move."

He chuckled then turned off the TV. His smile disappeared and he looked at her seriously. "I never would have thought of Raphael to be the type to not grab at what was blatantly offered, but apparently his encounter with that demon has made him very...hesitant." He reached over and touched her face, the fission of attraction raced through her again. "Darkness to darkness, Light to light. Makes you almost want to visit Dark Leonardo doesn't it? And I have no doubt that he exists. I have always wondered if he would be darker than me. That guy is so repressed it makes you wonder what goes on in his head that he would_ like_ to do but doesn't. I see the way that Donatello and Michelangelo look at you, Raphael hasn't figured it out...yet, but it is really Leonardo that Raphael has to worry about isn't it?" While he had been talking he had been leaning into her. She had begun leaning back and away from him and he followed. She was looking up at him as he looked down at her.

"I..." She said, but he silenced any protests by kissing her. The kiss was warm, full of desire, passion, and love. He broke away from the kiss. "You have been the only thing that has kept him sane. Kept me sane." He pulled back but she grabbed his shoulders pulling him closer. She closed her eyes. He smelled like Raphael, felt like Raphael, he _was _Raphael, Dark Raphael _was_ part of Raphael's soul. "Why isn't Raphael more like you?" She said feeling his body pushed against hers. "You got Raphael the scaredy cat. The one that jumps when there is the scrape of a chair on the floor, the one who cannot sleep through the night because his mind is wracked by visions of a demon, and the woman he loves being cut down because of him. He blames himself for your being powerless. And now..." He shook his head. "Now he is convinced he has given you a death blow."

She revelled in his touch, the feel of his body pressed against hers. It had been so long since she had been touched. She had touched all of the brothers, indulged her need for the simple contact of touching another person. The need to touch had been overwhelming, but she should have known that with simple touches, embraces, caresses, comes the inevitable need for more. She could indulge what she wished here because Raphael would never remember this. She brought a leg up twining it through his, then she kissed him. All of her frustration, all of her desire all of the need she put into that kiss because she couldn't get that close to any of them, because they would never understand, and she could never ask it of them. "I can feel your bindings Raphael." She whispered, and she could. She opened her eyes and look at Raphael's soul. His Soul Room was a dirty Manhattan alley. Raphael's soul was bound with rope and suspended spread eagle between the walls of the alley. One sai was plunged through his heart in a facsimile of the injuries she suffered because of him. The other impaled his wrist, she knew this was because of his inability to fight. He felt crippled, and debilitated, and helpless. But the worst was the miniature Syna that coiled itself around his entire body. "Oh gods." She whispered. Raphael's soul was in bad condition, granted it wasn't the worst she had ever seen, but it was a mess. Dark Raphael stood behind her, trench coat flapping in the wind. His Soul Room flickered and she fell to her knees. She looked at Raphael with grim determination. She was having problems maintaining the link, which meant there was something wrong with her body. She was tough and hard to kill even by godly standards, but the binding may be effecting her more than she thought. She stood up and looked at Raphael. "Wake up Raphael!" She yelled at him. She couldn't break the chains or slay the Syna, only he could do that. His eyes opened slightly. "Look at me Raphael." His head moved a little bit. "You don't get to lay down on my watch, you hear me! So what you lost, so what it killed you, who cares, I know I don't. You can't ever learn if you don't lose. You can't ever fight to live if Death has never thrown his shadow over you." His eyes focused on her. "You are letting a stupid lower than pond sludge demon rule your life!" She said to him. He didn't move. "You are letting a demon stand in the way of everything." She whispered. "If you don't defeat that Syna, you will never be able to move forward, in anything." She pleaded. "I stabbed you, I stabbed Mikey" He whispered. "I'm hard to kill Raphael, Michelangelo is fine. It wasn't your fault. It is that thing you've got wrapped around you, it's his fault, not yours. Are you going to let that thing rule your life forever Raphael? Fight Raphael, fight like you have never fought before. You are a fighter Raphael, it is in your blood. Fight for your brothers, fight for yourself...fight for me." She whispered the last because she could never promise him anything.

He looked at her and two Sais flew through the air striking the ropes that bound his wrists. She looked over her shoulder at Dark Raphael who walked up behind her. He took his hands out of his pockets. She looked up into his face which was in the shadow of his grey accented black fedora and pulled her in close. Raphael pulled the sai from his wrist, pulled the other from his heart. He looked at the Syna who rose up and above him. He growled and yelled as he charged it. Leaping at the Syna's throat he used his sais and took its head. He fell to the ground panting. He walked over to her, but she had begun to fade. He reached out to touch her, and she reached out to him as he grabbed her and kissed her. She kissed him back with all the love for him that she felt. She was torn away and thrown back into her own body.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

She gasped in pain. Raphael's eyes snapped open as she pulled the blade from his body. Its light flickered. She looked in shock at the sword. That wasn't good. She put the sword back in its scabbard and scrambled backwards. The pain was too great. She needed blood, her body craved blood and all she could smell was theirs. She sat back against the wall and tried not to breathe. She needed to focus, to gather her strength to run.

She could beat this, she could survive this, she had to because she had let that demon go back to Hell. It would take three days for it to regenerate, and another day or two to get the message to whoever and then another day for the demons to organize, be it Lucifer or the rebels. But it meant she only had about five or six days before literal Hell broke loose trying to find her.

She watched as Leonardo knelt down in front of Raphael. "How do you feel?" He asked gently.

"I feel tired, very tired, but I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders." He said looking down at himself. The scars were still there, but they were different, they looked older, nearly faded except for where his hard shell would never grow back. He looked around. "How's Mikey?" He asked fear in his voice.

Michelangelo crawled to him and leaned against the wall beside him. "I'm fine bro, just tired." He said moving his arm. Raphael sagged visibly with relief. "How is she Leo?" Raphael asked his voice full of fear, guilt and loss. Leonardo looked behind him and met her eyes. It was then that she saw Leonardo's control break. All of the feelings he had been hiding from himself, that he had tried to hide from her, burst loose at that moment. Leonardo stumbled over to her and picked her up pulling her into his lap. Tears began to fall as the Hunger within her ripped and clawed trying to get out.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I should have told Raph about the nightmares. I knew how much pain you were in and I didn't even...And now, and now you are suffering because of the choices I made." His voice broke. Tears were in his eyes "Take my blood. Take it, heal yourself. You can't die...please, I love you too much to watch you die."

A scream was ripped from her as another wave of pain lashed through her. "If I take your blood, I will rip your throat open and drink you down. I will consume every last drop because I won't be able to stop. I will kill you Leonardo." She said through teeth clenched in pain.

Leonardo was silent. Then nodded."If that is your price, then I will pay it. I let my fear rule my judgment. All of this is my fault. I deserve to pay the price for my mistakes. My life for my brothers." He whispered.

"Leo, no!" Donatello yelled worry and fear making him frantic. She closed her eyes. She wanted to kill him, gods help her she wanted nothing more than to rip him open and drink every last drop. She leaned into him.

"Leo, get away from her, she's going into Blood Lust, her eyes are glinting red. Leo please! Goddess you can't!" Donatello begged.

Her body and eyes began to glow. Leonardo looked at her, his expression full of guilt and fear. He looked at her and saw his death in her eyes. She leaned in, threw her arms around his neck, brought him in close and kissed him. She pulled away from the kiss, hugged him close her face buried in his neck. "Goodbye Leonardo." She whispered. Canines scraping along tender flesh.

"No!" The brothers shouted. Then she ran, she ran as fast as she could, put as much distance as she could between them and her.

_Do you think it will work? _She asked the woman in front of her

_ We don't know_

_ My body will reject it _The goddess said to her

_ Most of it, yes, but some, some may help_

_ Are you strong enough? _She asked

_ We will try to be_

Donatello watched in horror as she leaned into Leonardo. He didn't know what to do, he knew he couldn't fight her, she was too strong. "Goodbye Leonardo." She whispered.

"No!" He screamed in anguish.

Then she was gone. Leonardo sat on the floor. He shook his head as if to clear it and he stood up shakily.

Raphael screamed his rage. He stalked over to Leonardo and hauled him to his feet. "You knew! You knew how much pain she had been in and you let her suffer! I have felt that pain, the Hunger Leo. I felt it when she called to me when she was still lying in the chamber and I have never felt anything as excruciating as that. I never wanted to feel pain such as that again, and you are telling me that she has been feeling that for months!"Raphael pulled back his fist and punched him. Donatello grabbed Raphael by the shoulders. "Don't you ever touch her again Leo. If I ever see you lay a hand on her again I swear to you..."

Leonardo stumbled back and glared at Raphael cutting him off. "I was protecting my family Raphael!" He said angrily. "I didn't want her to begin feeding from anyone else!" Leonardo yelled.

"What do you mean anyone else?" Raphael asked angrily.

"She's been feeding from Donny for a month now!" He yelled, fury, pain and loss all warring for dominance.

Raphael rounded on Donatello."You can try to blame Leo all you want Raph, but he only found out last night." Donatello said softly. "I knew, and I didn't tell you. She made me swear not to tell any of you how much pain she was in, how much she needed blood, because she knew Leo wouldn't understand. That he would think that she was just using us to feed from. She didn't want you to worry Raph." He said looking away.

"Donny. You are my brother. You should have told me." Raphael whispered, betrayal heavy in his voice. "I should have known all of this. Donny you..." Raphael began.

"Um...guys?" Michelangelo said cutting him off. They all looked at Michelangelo who had been silent. In fact it looked as if he hadn't even been there. In his arms he held the goddess' swords. He looked frightened. "I found these at the entrance to the lair. "I tried following her, but... She was just gone." He pulled something else out. "Raph, I also found this." He handed Raphael his mask. "It was wrapped up with the swords." Raphael took his mask and held it tightly.

Donatello looked at the swords in confusion. Why would she leave her weapons? Raphael reached out and took the swords from Michelangelo. He looked at them then gave them to Leonardo. "You're the sword guy." He said as he walked to his bed.

"Raphael wait." Leonardo began.

Raphael 's anger drained away. "Leo, don't even start with me right now." He took a breath. " I didn't mean it Leo. I mean I did but...I'm sorry. I don't have the right. She's gone and we don't even know if she's coming back. You love her, I get that. Not everything is your fault. She obviously cared about you enough to want you to trust her, so much so that she allowed herself to suffer for so long." He looked around his room. "Now if you guys wouldn't mind getting out of my room, I would like to clean up and get some sleep." Raphael said, his voice oddly devoid of emotion. They all filed out of Raphael's room. Donatello took one last look at Raphael who was sitting on his blood soaked bed looking at the mask in his hands. Raphael looked at him. "That day when I threw the mug at her and I said those things to her, she was suffering wasn't she?" He asked quietly.

"Yes." Donatello said to him as he closed the door.

Donatello puttered around in his workshop a little. Looking every now and then at the new shell cycle. He had never found out what all of the symbols she had on the blueprints had meant. He would ask her about it when she came back, because he had to believe that she _was_ coming back. But she had told Leonardo goodbye, as in she wasn't coming back.

He walked out of his workroom. The lair was a quiet. He opened Raphael's door. In the dim light he could see that he had cleaned the room up, and managed to get the blood off the walls and floor. Raphael was sleeping soundly on his bed mask clutched tightly in his fist. He was glad that Raphael knew about everything. The crushing weight of guilt that had staggered him had been lifted, but he wished that Raphael had not found out the way he had. He looked in on Leonardo who was reading a book, his trench coat wrapped around him like a cape. He didn't feel like talking to Leonardo so he left and checked to see how Mikey was doing. He was snoring softly on his bed.

He wandered over to the couch and lay down. The couch smelled like her. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Leonardo finished the whole of Pride and Prejudice a second time before he finally went to the sleep for the night. He had tried to figure out if she was trying to tell him something. Darcy had fought through most of the book to conceal and deny his feelings, but Elizabeth had only come to love Darcy after most of the book was done, and only because she had finally come to realize who he really was.

He had decided in the end that he was thinking too much. But the faint hope that perhaps the goddess did indeed return his feelings had awoken a deep desire and need for her. He had offered up his life to her, when she needed it the most. He didn't want to die, he didn't want her to kill him, but she was in so much pain, because of him. Not to mention the guilt of knowing he had been acting like an ass from the first day she had started to seep into his heart. He had tried so hard to deny his feelings for her, and all it did was hurt himself and her. She had told him goodbye, but was it really goodbye? Or had he killed her? He had to believe she was alive and coming back to them. His head spinning he finally managed to fall asleep with the scent of her surrounding him.

He awoke the next morning and blearily dragged himself out of bed. He stumbled out of his room and had the vague thought that it was one of those rare moments when he actually wished he drank coffee. He stepped in something and slipped. He went down hard. He looked down at his hand which was now covered with whatever he had slipped in. It was red with blood. He felt his whole body go cold. He looked at the trail of blood stretching in front of him. He slowly got to his feet. He wanted to wake up but he knew it wasn't a dream, the fall had hurt too much to be the product of his imagination. He drew his swords as he followed the trail of blood into the living room. Leonardo felt himself pale and had to struggle to keep himself from collapsing. He could partially see Donatello lying on his stomach on the couch, one arm stretched out over the edge of the couch. He looked as if he were sleeping, except for the blood that was slowly dripping down his arm. Blood had also been smeared across his face and part of his body. Leonardo looked wildly around the living room, looking for whatever had done this. He then heard the cracking of bone and the rending of flesh and he scrambled back. He had to find Michelangelo and Raphael, maybe they were still alive. He crashed into Raphael's room first. Raphael woke up and glared at him, then paled. "Goddess...?"

Leonardo was bereft of speech. Raphael was alive, he had to find Michelangelo. He stumbled into Michelangelo's room. He was snoring on his bed. He blearily opened his eyes Leonardo stumbled out, Michelangelo followed.

"What is it Leo you're freakin' me out?" Raphael said worriedly.

He pointed in the direction of the couch where another bone crunched. Michelangelo and Raphael pulled their weapons. They began circling around to get a better view of the couch.

"Donny...no." Raphael choked out. "No,no,no Donnny."

That is when the demon rose up. How it had hidden behind the couch Leonardo didn't know, but it was the size of a pony, a really big pony. And looked to be a cross between a wolf and a big cat. Its head, back and tail were wolf-like, while the chest and legs appeared to be like those of a great cat. It was black as midnight, but had white stripes like a tiger. Its muzzle and front paws were covered in blood a piece of flesh hung from its jaws. It ate the piece of flesh in one bite and looked at them. Eyes the colour of molten lava stared back at them. Its lips pulled back revealing razor sharp teeth. It let loose a growl that rumbled deep in its throat.

Donatello rolled over and looked at them. "Who turned on the lawnmower?" He said groggily.

"Donny?" Leonardo questioned.

"Yeah Leo, what's up, did Goddess..." He started.

"Don't move. Donny for the love of the goddess, don't move." Leonardo pleaded.

Donatello froze and looked at the blood that covered his body. Then he looked up at the demon that had rose above him. Donatello paled. Flame coloured eyes looked down at Donatello. The growl rumbled in its chest again. The demon's ears folded back a feral growl was issued from its lips as it pulled them back baring its fangs.

Raphael was the first to attack. He launched himself at the demon, distracting it so that Donatello was able to roll off the couch.

"Leo, her swords, her swords will be able to hurt it." Donatello yelled at him.

Leonardo scrambled back and ran to his room. He had put the swords by his bed. He grabbed them and raced back. Raphael had lost his sais and was under the paw of the demon. It let out a roar as Donatello kicked it in the side. Michelangelo leapt up aiming to kick it in the face, but the demon moved its head grabbing Michelangelo in its jaws.

"Mikey!" Leonardo yelled.

Leonardo leapt at the demon, he hadn't looked at which sword he had pulled but it was the blue bladed _Capricious Death. _But the sword was not glowing like it had when She had wielded it.He brought the sword up and the demon deflected it with a swipe of its paw. The sword went flying, while its paw grabbed him and slammed him down beside Raphael who struggled beneath the demon's other paw. It spat Michelangelo out between Leonardo and Raphael. It growled at them bringing its blood stained muzzle down.

Donatello hit it in the side, but it paid him no more attention than an annoying fly.

"How did she ever expect us to win!" Donatello shouted as he pulled _Bloody Rage _from its scabbard_, _Again there was no glow_. _He swung it at the creature's head. It grabbed the sword in its jaws and slammed Donatello into the ground. It stepped in him with its back paw.

It returned its attention to Raphael who stared at it defiantly. It brought its bloody muzzle within an inch of Raphael's throat. It stopped and looked at Raphael's defiant gaze. It moved its head to the side and sniffed Leonardo who had bared his throat trying to get away from the razor sharp teeth. It sniffed Michelangelo, who whimpered, then let out a huff of breath and let them go. It turned and lifted its back leg off of Donatello. Donatello moved to get out of the way but it caught him with a powerful paw and dragged him beside Leonardo. It sniffed him teeth getting uncomfortably close he moved his face away from the teeth baring his neck. It stepped off them, and dropped _Bloody Rage. _It sniffed the air again, ambled over to _Capricious Death,_ picked it up and brought it back to a stunned Leonardo. It dropped the sword at his feet and walked back over to the couch where it flumped back down and began eating.

"What just happened?" Michelangelo asked.

Leonardo shook his head in confusion. He slowly got to his feet helping Michelangelo and Raphael to their feet. "You okay Donny?"

"Yeah, I'm covered in blood, but none of it is my own."

"So what's it eating?" Michelangelo asked horror filling his voice.

Raphael slowly made his way to get a better view of the other side of the couch. The demon's ears flickered but it remained intent on what it was eating. "I think the zoo is probably missing a few seals from its seal exhibit."

"Sea lions." Donatello corrected looking at what the demon was eating.

The demon looked at Donatello and bared its fangs. Donatello backed up, Raphael froze. The demon went back to eating. "So now what?" Raphael asked. "We have a giant wolf demon sitting in our living room that we can't kill even with Her swords."

"Maybe wait until it falls asleep?" Michelangelo suggested. Donatello was giving Raphael an odd look. "Hey Raphael, could you take a step closer to the demon?" He asked.

Raphael looked at him in surprise. "Are you joking me?"

"No I want to see something." He said looking at him. "Trust me Raphael, just a little step." Raphael glared at him but obeyed. The demons ears flicked in response but otherwise was unfazed by Raphael. Donatello took a step closer to Raphael, nothing happened.

"Donny what do you think you are doing?" Leonardo growled at him.

He stepped in front of Raphael and the demon began to growl. He stepped a little behind Raphael and the demon stopped.

"Huh." Donatello said as he pushed Raphael a little closer.

"Donny!" The demons head rose, flame coloured eyes assessed Raphael. The demon stood bringing what was left of the seal carcass with it and dropped it at Raphael's feet.

The demon made a huffing sound and pushed it closer. "Donny, what's it doing?" Raphael said as he leaned back from the bloody back half of the sea lion.

"I think it wants you to eat it." Donatello said curiously.

"Um...thanks but no thanks." Raphael said backing away from the pool of blood that was inching towards his feet. He backed up past Donatello, but the demon just looked expectantly at Donatello rather than growling.

"This is fascinating." Donatello said rushing over to his computer in the corner of the living room.

"Um Donny, giant wolf demon, this is not the time to be gettin' your geek on." Raphael said.

"No, no I think I've got this. It is displaying typical pack behaviour, like that of a wolf, or even a lion pride. Think about it. It could have eaten me while I was sleeping. I didn't even wake up when it dripped blood all over me." He looked at the blood that covered him. "I think it was smelling me. Then everyone wakes up and comes charging in. It's still eating so it is establishing the pecking order of when we get to eat. It asserted its dominance." Donatello said excitedly.

"So basically it got mad because it thought we were trying to take its food?" Raphael asked.

"Something like that." Donatello said.

"So what was with pushing me into its food zone Donny?" Raphael asked.

"When we attacked it, it decided to establish dominance, so basically it won so it is more dominant than us. That means it gets to eat first. Then it established dominance between us. It thinks that Raphael is the most dominant, so technically he gets to eat first."

"Eeww." Michelangelo said scrunching up his face. "But why is Raphael more dominant, he got his butt kicked too."

"Well Mikey you cowered, putting you at the bottom of the pile, Leo and I unintentionally bared our throats, showing it that we were submissive, but Raphael didn't do any of that, kept eye contact but didn't keep struggling, which is possibly the only thing that didn't get him killed."

"And that means what Donny?"Raphael asked.

"It means it has claimed us as pack...or pride I guess...probably pack though since it looks more like a cross between a wolf and a tiger and tigers are notoriously solitary."

"So now what?" Raphael asked.

The demon had finished off the seal and was licking the blood off the floor. It stretched out like a great cat, claws extended, and lay down. It closed its eyes presumably to go to sleep.

Donatello shrugged. "It doesn't seem to want to hurt us."

"So what, it's a good demon?" Michelangelo asked.

"It might not be a demon." Donatello said looking at it. "I never got to take samples of the two demons that Goddess killed before, so I can't be sure. But I remember she had said that when she was patrolling she was looking for other magical creatures. This might be one of them."

"So big giant woliger...tigolf...wiger...tolf...wiger, I like that one best. So this big giant wiger comes here for what?" Michelangelo asked.

Donatello shook his head.

Raphael walked over to Leonardo, Donatello followed. "Hey Leo, you okay, you seem awfully quiet."

"I had a dream one night. I had returned to the lair and everyone was dead. There was the Syna sitting in the corner eating the flesh from your bones and it was laughing at me, saying that I shouldn't have killed Her, because She was the only thing standing between us and them. When I woke up and saw all of the blood, it was like my nightmare had become reality, and I failed to protect my family...again. That thing over there wasn't even trying and it batted us away like we were flies. Even with Her swords we were no match for it. Imagine if it had have been here to kill us. We would have been slaughtered in our sleep and it would have been my fault. Raph, what if I killed her?" He whispered

"Leo, it's not your fault. Things happened and we have to believe that Goddess is okay, and that she will be back." Donatello said while putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It would be my fault if she's dead Leo, not yours." Raphael said softly.

The TV blinked on and the brothers looked at it in shock. Michelangelo was sitting on the couch, the wiger, as he coined it, sleeping nearby. It lifted its head and looked at the TV. Its ears flicked, it smelled the air then put its head back down.

"This just in, it appears the beloved sea lions from the Central park zoo have all mysteriously disappeared. Of the animals there has been no trace and although security cameras have been reviewed, they give no clue as to their disappearance. All other animals are safe and accounted for, including the zoos many endangered species."

The wiger let out a snort. Michelangelo looked at it. "Well it was nice of you to not eat the endangered species I guess." He said to it. The wiger opened its eyes and looked at him. It stood up stretched and padded over to where Leonardo stood with Raphael and Donatello.

"Mikey are you crazy!" Raphael whispered.

"What?" He asked.

The wiger loomed over the brothers. It looked at Leonardo and Raphael. It brushed the side it its head up against them. It nearly knocked them down, so they automatically grabbed onto it. They put their hands into silky soft fur. The wiger brushed against them again. Leonardo pet it. Raphael and Donatello followed and plunged their hands into the dense fur.

"It looks like we have ourselves a big guard kitty...puppy thing." Michelangelo said jumping off the couch to pet it.

"Don't suppose you know where the goddess is, do you girl?" Donatello asked it, while rubbing it's ears.

The wiger yipped.

"Girl?" Raphael asked looking at the wiger in surprise.

Donatello shrugged. "I got a look, it's a girl."

"Did she send you here for us?" Donatello asked.

"And did she tell you where Timmy fell down the well too?" Raphael asked sarcastically. The wiger brought a paw up and batted at Raphael.

"I think it understands what we are saying Raph, and I don't think she likes your sarcasm." Donatello said.

"So you think this wiger knows where the goddess is?" Leonardo asked.

The wiger wagged her tail..

"Well if the wiger knows we've got to go find her. She might still be hurt." Raphael said as he headed for the entrance of the lair.

The wiger leapt and blocked Raphael's path. Head down ears back it growled at him.

"I guess that means that Goddess doesn't want to be found." Michelangelo said as he slumped back on the couch.

The wiger spent the rest of the day sleeping. Leonardo looked at the sleeping wiger and walked closer to it. It seemed to be asleep but wherever one of them had tried to sneak out of the lair it had been right there to stop them, even going so far as to pick Raphael up by the shell and march him back to the couch like a bad kitten. Michelangelo had laughed his head off.

"I don't know, I still think it's funny that the only one who thinks Raph's a leader is warm and fuzzy over here." Michelangelo said that night as he was watching TV.

"No Mikey, the wiger is the leader, but it thinks Raphael is the more dominant of all of us." Donatello answered as he tinkered with a broken clock.

"Even more than Leo?" Michelangelo asked.

"Well think of it this way, all she is looking for is an aggressive fighter, brains are not needed, that's why she picked Raph." Donatello said with a smile.

Leonardo looked over to where Raphael was working with his heavy bag. Raphael was putting himself through quite the workout. Raphael had found that he was actually able to fight again. If it wasn't for the scars, you would never know that he had been hurt at all. This coupled with a night of restful sleep had turned Raphael into his old self.

"Yeah you just come over here and say that Donny. I dare you." Raphael said as he hit the bag again.

Raphael had stood up to the wiger when he had thought it was a demon, and it meant that whatever she had done to him had worked. Raphael was back, but he was worried and guilt ridden. Under all of their jokes and laughter, was worry for Her and glances towards the entrance of the lair had become frequent. Raphael was glancing at the entrance right now. His shoulders slumped a little then he focused on taking his frustration out on the bag.

By unspoken consent what had happened last night was not to be discussed. They had banded together, differences forgotten when they had thought they were fighting for their lives.

"I think I'm going to head for bed." Leonardo said finally as he walked to his room. It wasn't that late, but it felt like it had been a long day, especially waking up and finding Donny like he had. At this rate his brothers were going to take years off his life, and if he actually had hair, it would be grey by now. He missed Master Splinter and his advice. He needed to talk to someone about what a mess he had made of things.

He was suddenly lifted off the ground and plopped unceremoniously back onto the couch.

"Looks like everyone is sleeping in the living room tonight guys." Michelangelo laughed.

The wiger looked expectantly at Donatello. "I guess I'm done for the night too."

"I call couch!" Michelangelo said shoving Leonardo off.

"I call love seat!" Donatello said quickly.

"I call cold hard floor." Raphael grumbled.

Michelangelo laughed and turned off the TV.

The wiger lay down between Raphael and Leonardo.

"Do you think She'll be back tomorrow?" Michelangelo asked.

"I wish I knew Mikey." Leonardo said softly. He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

_Did you keep them safe? _The goddess asked the Were kneeling in front of her. Reddish brown hair cascaded in waves over her naked body. Eyes the colour of moss looked back at her.

_We kept them safe. _The woman said proudly. _We kept them from leaving. We established order. They are Pack, we must keep the pack safe._

_Good. I was worried._ The goddess said.

_We would not let you down._ _The_ _Red one, he challenged us. We won but he did not submit_.

_I hope you weren't hurt? _She asked concerned_. _

_ No, I am Alpha. We are strongest. We have decided we want to take them all as mates. _

The goddess' expression grew serious. _It does not work that way, you cannot take all as your mates. _

_I am strongest I choose my mates. We like all, we will take all, it is my right as Alpha_. _They want to mate. You have made us more. We have learned about this emotion, this love, but we cannot understand it. We will try to understand, but we are Beast, you think too much like Man. They are Pack. We have not had a Pack for so long. We want to keep them all. _

_I want to keep them all too, but it's not that simple. _She said sadly.

_ We will protect them._

_ I know. Have you eaten enough?_

_ We are well fed. _

_ Good_.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Raphael woke up to something warm pushed against his side. He must have thrown an arm over the wiger sometime during his sleep. He remembered the wiger had lain next to him and Leonardo. The only thing was that the body partially under him was not furry and there was a blanket thrown over him. He opened his eyes and saw the back of Goddess' head. He sat up quickly and saw that it wasn't a blanket but a wing that had been thrown over him. Leonardo was just on her other side, a wing thrown over his body as well. Leonardo had an arm thrown over her waist and was facing her. Raphael's movement disturbed her and she turned her head towards him, body moving to find the warmth of his. He looked down the line of her back and realized that she was naked.

Leonardo woke up and sat bolt upright. They looked at each other then back down at the goddess between them. Raphael rolled over and grabbed the blanket Michelangelo was using. Michelangelo woke up with a start. "Hey what's the..." He began but stopped when he saw the goddess on the floor. Raphael covered the goddess and let Leonardo pick her up.

"Move it Mikey." Leonardo growled as he kicked him off the couch. Donatello woke up and looked at her in shock. He got up off the loveseat and sat down in front of her. He touched her face.

"She's warm. I wouldn't say feverish, but she is more warm than I have ever felt her being."

"So what happened to the wiger?" Michelangelo asked.

"She _was_ the wiger shell for brains." Raphael said. He looked at her and didn't know what to feel. He knelt down beside her. He grabbed the blanket and pulled it down enough to see where he had put his sai through her. It was healed. He brought up each hand and wrist and inspected each in turn. They were both healed, there weren't even marks to show she had been injured. He couldn't forgive himself. He couldn't forgive himself for hurting her, for making her go through so much to save them, to save him. But the thought of turning away from her hurt more than any physical pain. He stood up and made room for Leonardo. It was him she had wanted anyway. He felt his heart break.

"But if she was the wiger, then why was she acting so funny?" Michelangelo asked.

Donatello shook his head.

Leonardo brushed the hair from her face. Her face followed his touch. Her eyes opened and she looked at him. She smiled a weak smile at all of them and tried to sit up. The blanket fell down and he rushed to cover her back up. She shifted her legs over the side of the couch. She placed a hand on Donatello's shoulder, legs pressed against him.

"Are you okay?" Leonardo asked pulling her into him. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean..." She put a finger to his lips and shook her head.

She pulled away doubling over, falling into Donatello. He caught her and pulled her into his lap. Jealously ripped through Raphael but he stamped it down. She wasn't his.

"Are you okay?" Donatello asked. She shook her head. She pushed away from Donatello and ran for the bathroom. The blanket fell to the floor as the bathroom door slammed and there was the distinct click of a lock.

The brothers looked at each other in shock.

"Should we go see if she's alright?" Michelangelo asked.

"If she wanted us there she would have asked us to come." Leonardo said looking at the bathroom door with worry.

"Donny..." Raphael began.

"No Raphael you listen to me." Donatello said angrily as he stood. "She's not yours Raph." He paused then said more evenly "She's not any of ours."

"I know, and I don't have any right to her, especially after I...All I've ever offered her has been violence." Raphael whispered. Then winced in pain as Michelangelo hit him up the side of the head.

"Grow up Raph. You guys are worse than children. She's mine, no she's mine. If you guys feel any more sorry for yourselves I am going to start a giant pity party for you while I take her from all of you. If she blamed you for anything she would tell you." He looked away. Raphael looked at Michelangelo in shock. The misery in his voice was tangible. "What if she's not okay?"

The door to the bathroom opened slightly. They all looked towards the bathroom, but she didn't come out. They all stood up and walked to the bathroom. She grabbed the door frame. "I don't feel very well." She said, as she collapsed.

Michelangelo grabbed her and swung her up into his arms. She struggled. "Toilet now." She said desperately. Michelangelo strode into the bathroom kicking the door closed behind him. They heard the click of the lock.

Raphael angrily pounded on the door.

"Mikey, let us in!" He shouted.

Michelangelo looked at the goddess in his arms. She looked pale, strained, and almost green. He put her in front of the toilet in time for her to puke into the bowl. He looked away concentrating instead on making sure her hair was out of the way.

She wiped her mouth. "I think I heard someone say once that, you know he is in love if he holds your hair while you puke into the toilet. " She flushed the toilet. She still looked pale, but the greenish cast to her skin was slowly fading.

"No offence sweetheart, but green is so not your colour." He said attempting to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I'll let you guys have green, much more your colour." She said eyes closed. "Green always was my favourite colour." She opened her eyes. She ran a hand through her blood clumped hair. "Eeww." She looked down at her body which was covered in dried blood. "I looked like I bathed in blood."

Michelangelo tried to be a gentleman and look away, but he found his eyes roving over her bloodstained flesh. "Are you okay?" He asked trying to get his thoughts back in order.

"Do you have any idea what she ate? Please tell me she didn't eat anybody." She said as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"You don't know?" Michelangelo asked in shock. "But wasn't the wiger you?"

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Wiger?"

"You know that wolf tiger thing, get it wiger." Michelangelo said with a smile.

"You mean the Were?" She asked.

"Where what?" Michelangelo asked in confusion.

"Not where, Were, as in Werewiger...I guess, but I would just call her a Were. She is comprised of both domestic cat and tiger as well as coyote and wolf. She is...Ryn." She said as if that explained everything. She closed her eyes. "I am so tired." She whispered."She didn't eat anyone did she?" She asked her voice was slurred.

"No. Just some sea lions." He said gently.

"Good I told her not to eat anyone, and to protect all of you." She clutched her stomach in pain.

"What's wrong?" Michelangelo asked squeezing her tightly. He was worried. Black veins began crawling their way under her skin. "Something's wrong." He said panic filling his voice.

Goddess looked as the black moved its way down her arms. "I told her my body would reject it, well most of it."

"Reject what, told who?" He was clutching her tightly.

"Could you run me a bath Michelangelo. The smell of animal blood and flesh," She started turning green again. He quickly stood up leaving her hanging onto the toilet.

He ran the water and shrugged himself out of his shirt. He could still hear his brothers banging on the door outside. He grabbed his toothbrush and some toothpaste.

"Are you done, you know, puking?" He asked. _How did you ask that delicately? _He wondered.

She nodded her head. He passed her his toothbrush and toothpaste. She looked at it in shock. "It's mine, I would've gotten you a new one, but we don't have any spares lying around."

"Thank you." She said. She brushed her teeth, spit in the toilet and gave the toothbrush and toothpaste back to him. She tried to stand and managed to do not so bad. He helped her over to the tub and helped her get in. She plunged her whole body under water as well as her head. Her hair floated around her like a cloud of ink. He could now see all of the black veins running through her body. The water was beginning to cloud with blood. She sat up. He stood up and grabbed a bar of soap and the shampoo he had seen sitting in the shower. He helped her with her back and her hair. The bathroom was full of steam and silence, the water was a muddy red. Michelangelo pulled the plug letting all of the water go down the drain. She went to try to stand but he held her down. He filled the tub again, dug up some of the bubble bath he had seen her use and poured it into the tub.

"Now tell me what is wrong." He said quietly. She looked at him. She seemed tired and she was still in pain. It was tempting to get Donatello in here, but her knew he wouldn't be able to help her.

"Ryn thought that she might be able to use my body and turn my lust for blood into meat instead. It worked, sort of. But she was not able to hold the form for long enough for all of the meat she ate to digest. My body can't digest solid food, what goes in must come out. And the blood she ingested, my body is trying to process it but it can't because it is just regular animal blood. That is why you can see all the veins in my body turning black. My body is getting rid of the blood it can't digest, and it is," She closed her eyes. "Painful."

Michelangelo tried to wrap his brain around how someone else could use her body, but decided he would just leave it for now.

"Raphael is hurting." She whispered. She seemed sleepy. "He hurts here." She pointed to where her heart was.

"How do you know?" Michelangelo whispered.

"Because I can feel him." She said softly.

"You love him, don't you?" Michelangelo asked, his own heart hurting.

"Yes. I love all of them." She said sleepily. Michelangelo realized her defences seemed to be down.

"But who do you love? Who is it you want to be with?" He asked her desperately.

"I love them all, but they, they want me to choose between them, but I want to be with them all. They don't realize that I can't choose."

"Why can't you?" Michelangelo whispered feeling guilty for asking her as vulnerable as she was, and yet needing to know.

"Because I am what I am." She whispered. "I love Michelangelo's humour and his kind heart; Donatello's quiet strength and keen mind; Leonardo's honour and protective nature; and Raphael's passion and vulnerability. I love them all, with all my heart, but I could never ask them to share. That's why I can never have them."

Michelangelo looked at her in shock. She loved them, all of them. He wondered what his brothers would think if they knew what she thought of them. He tried to picture the vulnerability she saw in Raphael. And then he saw it. Raphael always used his anger like a shield, never letting anyone get close. It shocked him to realize that she really did know them that well, but then again she had always seemed to be one step ahead of them, so he guessed he really wasn't that surprised.

He was holding her up now, to stop her from slipping below the water. "How do you know Raphael is hurting?" He asked.

"Because I left a kiss upon his soul." She whispered.

Michelangelo brushed a finger across her cheek. He leaned down and kissed her. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. He pulled away and put his forehead against hers. He loved her, but she loved his brothers as much as she loved him, and what did she mean she left a kiss on his soul? He pulled away settled her so she wouldn't slip under the water and got a towel.

"Michelangelo?" She asked him. She opened her eyes, she seemed a little more focused. "It burns." She said as the black of her veins got darker and thicker. They had faded a bit during the bath but they seemed to be coming back with a vengeance.

He pulled her from the tub, but she had gone limp. He lay her down on a towel he had put on the floor and wrapped her up as best as he could. She was unconscious or asleep he wasn't sure which, but when he tried to wrap her in the towel she struggled. He pulled her against him and she stopped struggling. He lay her down on the floor. He grabbed his shirt from the floor and put it on. He picked her up and although she settled a little she still struggled. He pulled his shirt off and she snuggled into him, her struggling stopped.

He looked at her in confusion. There was something about flesh on flesh contact that she needed. The veins got worse when he wasn't touching her, but got better when he was. He stood up and walked to the door. He managed to get it open. He strode out of the bathroom. His brothers were waiting around the couch.

"Mikey what the..." Leonardo asked.

"Raphael strip." He said striding up to him.

"I...what?" Raphael asked in surprise.

"What's wrong with her?" Donatello asked. Tracing the black veins that ran through her arm.

"I'll tell you in a sec, Raph strip now. The more skin the better," He looked down at the black veins, "Naked would probably be best." He said worriedly. "And lie down on the couch, Leo get Raph a blanket." She was worried about Raphael and seemed to have some sort of link with him. He was her best bet, but they would switch off every few hours until those black veins disappeared.

Leo grabbed the blanket that had fallen to the floor when she had run to the bathroom. "What's going on Mikey?" Leonardo asked.

Raphael was taking off his shirt and pants. He lay down on the couch grabbed the blanket, spread it over himself. His boxer briefs made it to the floor "This better not be some sort of joke Mikey." Raphael growled.

"I just hope I'm right." He said as he lifted the blanket and lay her stomach down on top of Raphael. He gathered up and folded her wings so they were outside the blanket. Her head was lying on Raphael's shoulder. She seemed to sense him and snuggle in deeper.

Raphael blushed red. "Mikey what are you..." He began. The veins running through her body lessened.

"The more skin the better Raph. Touch as much of her as you can." Michelangelo said trying to keep his own jealousy in check. "We'll need to switch off every couple hours until those veins go away or she actually wakes up, whichever comes first." Michelangelo said to his brothers who were looking at him in shock.

Michelangelo looked at Raphael who turned his attention back to the woman laying on top of him. He hugged her tightly one hand pulling her head in closer. He hugged her like a man who did not think to ever hold her again. He closed his eyes. "I can't Mikey, I can't forgive myself for..."

"Shut it Raph and enjoy for a bit." Michelangelo growled.

"What's going on Mikey." Leonardo asked angrily. Leonardo's jealousy was rising.

So he explained to them about Ryn and her body's rejection of all of the animal blood in her system, along with the other chunky bits. "Don't ask me who Ryn is cause I don't know. I also don't know how her body is getting rid of the blood, but she seemed better when I was touching her. She got worse when I wasn't. I don't know why, I'm just trying to help her." He said looking at Raphael and Goddess.

"So why Raph?" Donatello asked in confusion.

Raphael opened his eyes and looked at him. "She was worried about him." He said. "She has some sort of link with him, she could feel him through this link. I thought that maybe she would get better faster with him." Michelangelo said with a shrug ignoring the pain in his heart.

"She really did choose him didn't she." Leonardo said softly closing his eyes.

Michelangelo shook his head. How was he supposed to explain to his brothers what he knew? That she was never going to pick any of them because she loved all of them. "She hasn't chosen any of us. It may have something to do with her bringing him back, or maybe something to do with how she helped him with the nightmares, I don't know, all she said was that she had 'left a kiss on his soul.' Whatever that means. Like I said before in a few hours we will switch off, Raph can get up and stretch, and whoever wants to go next can take over. No fighting and no getting jealous. It is more important for her to get better than for us to figure out which one of us she wants to be with, got it." His brothers nodded shocked.

"What happened to Mikey?" Donatello asked Leonardo as Michelangelo turned and began walking away.

Leonardo shook his head in shock.

Raphael kicked the kitchen table. He burned with jealousy. He couldn't help it. He agreed with Michelangelo, but he needed to know, needed to know if he could call her his. "We are such idiots, she's a goddess! What would she want with us?" He hissed trying to keep his voice down. Donatello was lying with the goddess and Michelangelo and Leonardo were in the kitchen with him. "We're just mutated freaks who happened to have just enough magic in us to have her claim us as being hers. She will never choose any of us because we...we...we're not good enough for her." Raphael finished, his anger burning itself out. "I mean look at her. She the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and look at us." He looked at his hands. "I need to go hit something." He said as he walked away to punch at his heavy bag.

He hit and kicked the bag and it felt good. He had never felt so good to be able to use his body again like he had used it before. He was able to punch, kick and move again with no muscles cramping, no more pain. He had grown so used to the pain it was a relief to feel like he was himself again. The pain had made him more irritable, more bad tempered and he hadn't had an outlet. He landed a punch then grabbed his bag. Except Her. Shame burned through him as he thought about how she must have seen him almost every night. A screaming, frightened lunatic. What did she do to him that had rid him of the nightmares that had plagued him for two months, and why hadn't she gotten rid of his nightmares earlier? He was the charity case, that's why she seemed to prefer him. Even as he thought it he knew it wasn't true. He leaned his head against his bag. He didn't think he would be able to keep his sanity if she picked Leonardo. Michelangelo said he had some sort of link with her, but her couldn't feel anything. And she had kissed Leonardo before she had left. It was Leonardo who she had handled so carefully these two months. His head was starting to hurt from thinking too much and all he did was go around in circles.

Leonardo put a hand on his shoulder. "Why didn't she help me sooner Leo?" He asked as he looked at his brother. Guilt crossed his face.

"I didn't know that she could help you Raph. The thought that she might be able to control your mind in some way. I just couldn't take the chance that she would do something to you. Now I realize that I let my fear rule me and that I could have saved you two months worth of suffering if I had have just trusted her. I just remember when Mikey asked her if she could do something about your personality, she said yes. She's the most frighteningly beautiful creature I have ever met, and sometimes I feel so insignificant being around her. She is so much _more_ than us." He shook his head. "I don't even know what she did to you, but I am glad you are feeling better Raphael." His brother turned and walked away. Raphael looked at his bag and gave it another hard punch.

And so it went for the rest of the day. They took turns switching off every couple hours. Raphael watched as she slept on Leonardo. Jealousy burned hotter and angrier through him as it hadn't when she lay on Michelangelo or Donatello. He wanted to rip her from his arms but he knew he couldn't, he knew he shouldn't. It was his last thought before he fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter18

Raphael awoke with a start. He groaned as he realized he had slept upright in the loveseat. He looked over to where Leonardo was sleeping and found him there alone. He looked around the lair but didn't see her anywhere. Donatello was in the kitchen making breakfast.

"Where is she Donny?" Raphael asked concerned.

Donatello walked over to him and handed him a plate of toast. Leonardo woke up and sat up. "She's locked herself in my workroom. Been there for hours. I'm surprised you guys could sleep through the noise." "What's she doing Donny?" He asked as Donatello gave a mug of tea to Leonardo who took it with surprise.

He shook his head. "She was already in there when I woke up. And that was a couple of hours ago. It's been quiet though for the last hour or so. I figured once everyone was awake we could break the door down if we had to and find out what she's been doing and if she's okay."

Michelangelo emerged from his room and looked at them in surprise. Leonardo filled him in as he got dressed. They ate breakfast in silence as Donatello inspected the door to the workroom.

He tried using his code to get in several times but she had changed his password. He began to bang on the door. He stopped and put his ear to the door. He shook his head. "I don't hear anything." He walked over to the computer that was in the living room. He began hacking into his own security system. He sat back and watched the locking system on his door open.

They all looked at each other, worry on their faces. They opened the door. Leonardo sniffed the air. "I smell blood."He said as he drew his Katana, the metal scraping against the scabbards. He was the only one of his brothers who was actually armed. Pieces of metal were strewn around the floor. Donatello picked a piece up and looked it over. "It's a piece of the shell cycle we were working on." He grabbed another piece and looked at all of the other pieces. "Some of these are from the truck." "So she trashed our rides?" Michelangelo said looking around the work table. "Oh shell." He said. They all rushed to the other side of the work table and Raphael looked upon the goddess. She was in the middle of a bloody circle about five feet across. Symbols were written in three concentric circles. She seemed to be on the outer ring of the last circle. She stopped short of finishing the final outer ring. She wobbled as she stood up then looked at them. She looked drawn and tired. She was dressed again but was without her armour, weapons and cloak. She looked back at her circle and nodded.

"What the...?" Raphael asked. "Summoning Circle." She said gravely.

"To summon what?" Raphael asked.

She looked at Donatello. She seemed different, distant, like she had erected a barrier. "I'm sorry I ripped your stuff apart Donatello. I made a few adjustments to your truck and the cycle." She had walked over to the bike which was sitting beneath a tarp. She pulled off the tarp and revealed a bike. It was a black crotch rocket with a red leather seat and mirrors. On the gas tank was a white eight sided star. She straddled the bike. "This bike runs on magic." Donatello looked shocked. "But I thought you couldn't use your magic." He said in confusion. She shook her head. "I can't, but I am able to activate runic symbols with my blood. I've been so used to pulling my magic from within I had forgotten that there is a way to use magic without actually having to possess it. A powerless human could technically create a spell as long as they had the right sequence of signs, symbols and ritual." She looked in front of her to the eight sided star took a knife from her boot, sliced open her palm and placed it on the star. She lifted her hand, which was now completely healed, from the now blood red star. Runes and sigils that were not visible before glowed blue. "Now for simplicity, each of these buttons is directly connected to a spell. For example this one here," She pushed a button and disappeared. "Creates an invisibility shield. The bike will sound like a motorcycle, but when the invisibility shield is activated it will be completely silent." She reappeared. "I left an instruction book showing which button does what and what sigils and runes are connected to each spell in case it gets damaged. The bike should run off of my blood for a while, probably years as long as its magic isn't used too much. When the star goes white it means that another dose of magical blood is required. You will be able to activate the bike by doing the same thing that I did. Also, the only ones able to ride the bike are those with magic in their blood. So no ordinary human will be able to activate it."

"I also equipped the bike with some weapons." She pressed another button and small guns appeared under each headlight. "Also there are two removable guns." She placed a hand on each side of the fuel tank and pulled. The fuel tank came apart in two pieces. She flipped the guns around so they were aiming forward. "The guns harbour ice magic, which is the strongest type of ordinary magic to use against demons. It won't kill them, but it may give you enough time to get away." She put the guns away and got off the bike. "I also modified your garbage truck over there. Same deal but I left most of your cannons and weapons intact, I just added a little to the arsenal and beefed up some protective shields." She said her voice held little emotion.

"Why are you spilling your blood again. You haven't even recovered from losing so much before, and why, why do all of this?" Leonardo asked angrily. "I was MIA for two days. Today is the third day." She closed her eyes. "I'm trying to protect you, all of you, in case I am not here to do it." Her voice cracked, the mask of indifference fell. "The air is thick with demons and there wasn't a single angel out there." She closed her eyes and breathed in. "All magic has its price Leonardo, be it blood, life force, power, your life, or even your very soul, there is always a price for using another's power. Even I must pay the price. If a little of my blood keeps you alive, I will pay that price." "What price did you pay for me?" Raphael asked softly. "Normally it would be just power, but I don't know the price I paid for you Raphael.

Raphael strode over to her, grabbing her by the shoulders. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know. It didn't matter at the time, I could only think of saving you, and I would do it all over again, no matter the price." She whispered

Raphael pulled her into his arms. "Why does it feel like you are saying goodbye?" He asked her. He stepped back and took her face in his hands tipping her head to meet his eyes. Leonardo looked away.

She pulled herself out of his arms. She didn't answer but gestured to a large chalk circle. "That is a protective circle. Close the circle with the chalk and you will be safe inside. Learn the sigils so you will be able to draw one anywhere at any time. Always carry a piece of chalk with you from now on." She looked at the circle drawn in blood. Then at the pile of armour. She picked up her swords and strode over to Leonardo. Leonardo looked away from her. She touched the side of his face and brought it back to look at her. "If I had not saved Raphael, I would never have met any of you Leonardo." She leaned into him and like a plant reaching for the sun Leonardo couldn't help but put his arms around her. "You and Raphael struggle against the darkness in your souls." She pulled herself away. "You will never be able to wield _Morte Morosus_. Only you and Raphael can wield _Cuthach Fuilteach_. Hold onto my swords." She walked over to Donatello and Michelangelo who hugged her together. "Donatello, Michelangelo you can wield _Morte Morosus_. But remember these are immortal swords, they have Power, do not let them consume you, because they will try.

"What about the third sword?" Michelangelo asked as she stepped away from them. She looked at the empty scabbard held in Leonardo's hand. She looked torn as to what to do with the final sword. She grabbed it the air above the scabbard and the sword she had pulled to help Raphael appeared in the scabbard. "I will entrust it into all of your care."

"How do we use it?" Leonardo asked.

She looked at him seriously. "You don't. I am not planning on going anywhere, but I don't know what will happen when I summon the angel."

"Whoa, what do you mean when you summon an angel?" Raphael asked.

"I have to see what they are doing about the demon threat. I know you guys have been watching the news the past two days and I know things are starting to get bad out there. There should be angels out there in full force trying to keep the demon threat down, unless they are planning a major assault on Hell."

"So you couldn't find any of these guys running around in robes and halos." Raphael sneered. "I'm not seeing how angels would be any help anyway."

"Do not joke Raphael. It is true that not all of Heaven's angels are warriors, but make no mistake the ones that are, are powerful, and dangerous.

She grabbed her cloak pulling it around her and pulling up the hood covering most of her face.

"Hey Donny, how does the protective circle work.?" Michelangelo asked.

"I don't know a lot about magic Mikey, but usually you are in the center of the circle and you are protected from what is outside."

"And a summoning circle?"

"You stand outside to be protected from whatever is being summoned, nothing in, nothing out."

She walked into the centre of the circle and bit her finger, knelt down and finished drawing the line of the circle. She turned to the center of the circle and drew a symbol.

"Then why is she in the center of the Summoning circle?" He asked.

"You might want to cover your ears." She said as she pressed her hand flat against the center of the circle and called out one word. They covered their ears in pain as the cadence of that one word threatened to shred their eardrums. She stood up and took one step back.

All of the sigils lit up with a ghostly blue light.

"She's making sure that whatever she is calling can't hurt us." Donatello said looking with dawning understanding. "And so we can't stop her from whatever she is going to do." They all looked at the circle in horror and watched as a man appeared in the center. He wasn't what they were expecting. The man was middle aged but looked older with greasy salt and pepper hair, long beard and tattered clothing. He was slouched over as if the weight of the world was too much for him to bear. He looked around in confusion then stood up straight. "What mortal dares to summon me?" He asked, thunder in his voice. The outer circle flashed blue as he spoke and they were able to see the barrier which looked to be straining against the power the man in the circle was building. From outside the barrier they could feel his power like the crackle of electricity along their skin. It began to push down on them as if gravity was doubling its pull on them towards the Earth. Even she looked to be straining against his power. She fell to her hands and knees.

"The only one to whom you may never appear under any guise of illusion." She said to him through clenched teeth. His eyes widened and his arm flashed out catching her throat and dragging her up against the barrier. "Never speak those words." His voice broke, despair ringing out with each syllable. But as he touched her light flashed down his arm. He stepped back in shock dropping her. The light engulfed his whole body transforming the dirty slouched homeless man into a radiant heavenly being. He was just over 6 feet with a golden complexion, curly blonde hair and eyes the colour of the bluest sky. His face would have made Botticelli weep, it was so perfect. He was almost too pretty to be overly masculine, but the square line of his jaw and thickness of his golden brows made his face masculine enough. Gone were the tattered clothes, instead he was now resplendent in layers of white, red and golden robes. Snow white wings arched gracefully behind him as he looked in shock at his hands. "No." He said in a whisper. She lay crushed to the floor. Having loosed the angel from its mortal form the intensity of his power increased. He had fallen to his knees he looked at the figure on the floor.

"Goddess!" Raphael screamed banging at the barrier with both fists.

The angel in the circle ignored him. Instead he gingerly pulled back the hood. "You want to tone it down a bit Gabriel you are crushing me." Each word sounding strained. Suddenly the devastating power disappeared and the angel looked at her, shock and disbelief turned into tears of happiness. He helped her to her feet and held her face in his hands fingers caressing her cheeks. "My love." He said touching his forehead to hers. "My very dearest love."

Pain shot through Raphael. It seemed to be radiating from the area around his heart. He looked away, not being able to stand the sight of the two immortals standing together. It was like watching the love between darkness and light. But then she only looked like darkness, instead she was everything that was light. He looked at Leonardo whose face was full of hurt. He too had turned away from the sight. Donatello and Michelangelo were watching the two with looks of hurt and sadness. "Word spread through Hell and Heaven that you had been slain. I tried to find you, but...your energy, your power was just gone. Deities of both worlds searched in vain for you, but when all came back empty handed, I knew then that I had sent you to your death." He whispered in anguish. "Gabriel what in Heaven's name are you doing on the ground?" She asked him. "Gabriel I need you to focus."

He just shook his head. "Kaethryn, I can't lose you again. I lost you once, was responsible for your death once." He said wrapping his wings around her protectively.

"You weren't responsible Gabriel, Michael killed me, not you. Oh please tell me Michael is on the ground, his death would make me feel much better." "He's planning strategies in Heaven. And even if he was on the ground I couldn't let you kill him, he's my brother." Gabriel whispered. "Kaethryn..." he began.

She pulled her face away. "Don't you _dare_ Kaethryn me. Kaethryn's bones lay at the bottom of a rocky sea cliff, all because your _brother _stabbed her through the back and threw her into the sea. He wasn't even kind enough to give her a killing blow, instead she died from the force of being smashed repeatedly against the rocks at the bottom of the rolling sea . It was not a swift death, and it was not a painless one either." With each word that came from her mouth he winced in torment. "He killed the woman you loved and still you protect him." "He was ordered..." He began. "I could forgive him that, but he has made it a game. I was his prey. If the diseases and accidents didn't kill me, he was right there like some sadistic Angel of Death devising up new and interesting ways to kill me. Do you know how many times I died, to be reborn only to be killed again. Hundreds upon thousands upon millions of lives, and I remember each and every one in exact detail. I was passed from one god to another, never resting always being executed." A single tear tolled down her cheek. He brushed it away leaving a smear of dark pink.

"A human soul is only supposed to take so much. You shouldn't be able to remember every life that you have lived, it should have broken you by now." He whispered in agony. "I have not broken Gabriel, I have never broken." She said angrily. "Your soul has been sundered Kaethryn."

"I sundered it myself. Believe me Gabriel I am well aware of the current state of my soul." She glared angrily at him.

"If I had made you mine when I fell in love with you that day on the loch...I could have saved you." He whispered. "If you had made me yours then, you would have Fell." She said softly. "Do you think I cared for that. I would have Fallen a thousand times if it would have saved you. If I could have had you, even for only the span if a mortal lifetime, I would have Fallen for you." He said closing his eyes. "But would it have saved me?" She questioned. "Or would the goddesses that have resided within me since the Beginning consumed me, gotten free and destroyed the worlds?" "They did not consume you. You managed to seal them within yourself. It may have happened that way back then."

She shook her head. "Kaethryn was strong, but I do not think she had the will. She was delicate, and too good. There were a lot of lives between then and now. Almost two thousand years worth. So why didn't you claim me as you wanted if you did not fear to Fall?"

He turned from her, wings brushing the sides of the barrier the circle had created. "You loved me, but you loved Cellach...Lucifer... more, and he loved you. How was I supposed to betray my own brother by taking away the woman he loved!" He shouted angrily.

Raphael had been drawn back into the conversation going on between the two figures in the circle. The implications of their conversation were slowly dawning on him. But Raphael felt his world tip and the breath from his lungs leave his body as if punched at the angel's last words. He looked at Leonardo who was looking at him with pain and guilt in his brown eyes. "You were both loved equally Gabriel, you just never believed that she did not favour one over the other. Kaethryn..." She closed her eyes ."I...loved you both, but I would never have taken one without the other, just as I would never have chosen Seymous without Daemon."

"You are always light and dark aren't you. An Archangel and A Fallen Archangel, a vampire and a Light Elf." He looked at her more closely then, stood and grabbed her arms. "Where are your bonds?" He asked panic rising in him.

"Broken. They were killed nearly 900 years ago." She said in a whisper of pain.

"But, they kept your emotions balanced. Without them you shouldn't have been able to control the goddess' within you." He said in horror.

She shrugged. "I shouldn't have been able to seal them within me either."

He looked at her then, really looked at her. "Your..." He began. She put a finger to his lips. "How long?"

He looked at her and turned his head away in anguish. "Five days, a week at most."

She nodded. "Enough time then. After today all of Hell will know I am still alive. I figure I have maybe three days after today before all Hell comes looking for me. I have no power to protect myself against them."

He looked at her in shock. "No power, as in none at all?" He asked incredulous.

"I had a tiny bit of power for about four days after the Syna attacked me, but after that, nothing. I have been separated from my power for almost two months now."

"That's impossible. You should have di..."

She cut him off. "What are you doing on the ground Gabriel?" She asked. He let go of her face. Turning away.

"I was ordered here." He said voice emotionless.

"But Gabriel." He stepped away from her. She stepped towards him and turned his face, forcing him to look at her. "What do you mean you were ordered? What is Heaven doing?"

"Heaven has dispatched a number of angels to try to control the demon riders on earth, but so far Heaven is divided. There are those who wish to attack Hell, there are those who wish to wait, and if the Apocalypse begins, so be it."

"And God?" She asked. He just looked at her. "Right, sorry, stupid question."

"Lucifer's in danger." She whispered. "He doesn't know who the traitor is yet. He or she has not revealed themselves. He is going to be killed if the traitor isn't stopped." She looked at him a worried expression on her face.

"You still love him don't you?" Gabriel questioned as he searched her face.

"As I still love you." She said. "Why are you on the ground. You were given the word of the Seraphim that you would never be placed on the ground again, what are you doing here?"

The knife in Raphael's heart twisted at her words. Of course she would be in love with Gabriel, he was a beautiful Heavenly being, he was a freak of nature. But she was also in love with Lucifer. That was why she has been so concerned about him.

"I was ordered here." He said his voice breaking he fell to his knees. She clutched him to her, wings wrapping and intertwining with his.

"Oh Gabriel. I am so sorry."

"I can't do it Kaethryn. I can't be here it's too much. Everything is so much...more here, and then I remember you and I feel as though I will burst into a thousand pieces . Each arrow of grief shatters me anew. I thought that I would always know you. I thought that I would be able to find you. I don't know how we both missed it. You are her image exactly. Of all the souls ever created only you have ever had the same colour of eyes. No matter the impossibility of genetics, each incarnation saw the exact shade of green. And yet it took me over one hundred years to figure out that it was you."

"Gabriel, I wouldn't have known without you telling me that Geldric was you, and that Cellach was Lucifer." She was silent for a moment lost in thought. "Gabriel, I think it's Time." She said tipping his face up to look at her. He shook his head. "Gabriel, He will forgive you."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because He gave you free will. He gave you the ability to choose. You have to save him, he's your brother."

"How do I know if it is the right choice?"

"We never know. It is one of the things about being mortal. We never know what will _be_, only what _is_. But the Apocalypse doesn't happen. I know for certain." She said with conviction.

"How do you know?" He asked.

"Because Michael hasn't killed her yet." Gabriel looked at her. "Me, present me. She, Katherine, is alive and well and blissfully walking around not knowing that in about eight months Michael will kill her. Heaven is doing nothing, which means that something changes, something happens to make it so that Michael is free to kill her." Then her brow furrowed in confusion. "I feel like her Gabriel. I feel like Katherine, I think like Katherine, but she's dead Gabriel. Why do I feel like her?" She asked in confusion. Gabriel looked up at her, sadness in his eyes. "I have not gone insane Gabriel. I..." Then her eyes widened. "Michael isn't in Heaven, he's on the ground searching for me...for her."

"No he..." Gabriel began then stopped.

"I am his obsession Gabriel, he knows I am out there somewhere, and he knows he fails, because if he didn't fail at some time, in some place, I wouldn't have risen. He will find me and he will kill me." Her brow furrowed. "I see." She whispered as she closed her eyes. She looked at Raphael whose hands were pressed against the barrier. She reached out a hand and placed it against his through the barrier..

"It was worth the price." She said looking at him with a sad smile. She looked at Gabriel. Who was looking at Raphael an inscrutable expression on his face.

"I will help him, as best as I can, but it is you who will turn the tide. You will break the Binding." He closed his eyes in despair. "To think He would ask this of you." Gabriel looked at her.

"Gabriel, I accept my fate." She said quietly.

"Once I Fall Lucifer will know who you are."

"I have never had any desire to keep that knowledge secret. It was your being bound by the Will of Heaven that has kept that knowledge secret. Lucifer and I have not exactly been friendly over the last four thousand years, or almost two hundred for him I suppose, but you just figured it out yourself."

"He will hate himself. To think he found you then let you go. And what you suffered in Hell, how those demons tortured you." His voice broke then.

"Shhh, my love quiet yourself. Sometimes things that are in the past must remain there. I never blamed Lucifer for that. It was not upon his orders that the demons acted." She shook herself then said, "It is time to help your brother. We don't have much time."

He looked at her. He smiled but the smile was sad. "I am not your love."

"You will always be Kaethryn's love, you and Lucifer both, but I am not Kaethryn. I love you both, but for me that love is like a beautiful half forgotten dream that can never be dreamt again." She leaned down and kissed him. "It is time to Fall, Gabriel."

"I'm scared." He said as he clung to her.

She knelt down embracing him. 'It's okay, I will catch you when you Fall."

"Lucifer Fell alone."

"And my heart breaks to know that."

"You can't, you will never survive it." He whispered.

"No I probably won't, but I will try. I have a promise to keep." She said as she looked at Leonardo.

Gabriel looked at all of them. "I see." He whispered.

She had a look in her eyes that Raphael couldn't decipher.

"This is going to hurt isn't it?" He questioned.

She looked at them. Raphael looked at her in horror. "No, don't you dare!" Raphael screamed as he pounded on the barrier.

"More than anything you can ever imagine." She whispered

"That is not true. It cannot hurt any more than losing you." He whispered.

They clung to each other Black leather wings wrapped around, snowy soft down. The circle began to burn red. Cracks began to form within the circle. Flames engulfed both figures. Gabriel screamed as his beautiful wings began to burn. The flames trickled and ran their way along her flesh as well as his. The floor collapsed beneath them. Both figures fell, swallowed into the earth as if they had never existed. The Barrier disappeared sending Raphael flying forward hitting the now bare ground hard. There was nothing there. No markings and no cracks to even show that anything had ever been there.

"NOOO!" Raphael screamed as he punched the ground with his fist, tears hitting the floor in silent despair.

He looked at his brothers who had all fallen to their knees, horror and desolation etched within every line on their faces.

Leonardo clutched at the swords she had given him.

Donatello was the first to stand. The first to gather his despair and turn it into determination. "Come on, Let's go." He said walking away from spot where she Fell, and walking to his workbench.

"You heard her. Things have been getting bad outside, and we will be doing her no good by sitting around here moping and worrying. Raph and Mikey, you guys take the new shell cycle out for a test drive, see what you can find out about any strange things going down. Leo and I will stay here and learn how to create a protective circle."

Raphael looked at Donatello in shock, but he pulled himself off the floor and walked over to the bike. He grabbed his helmet and leapt on. He grabbed the handles and a shock went through him. He kicked started the bike and it roared to life. Michelangelo jumped on the back, helmet in hand. They roared out of the lair.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

They managed to comb the city several times over. It wouldn't have taken so long, but Raphael couldn't contemplate going home. He needed to be out doing something, but there was really nothing they could do. The people who were possessed were ridiculously fast and strong. The only thing that slowed them down was literally freezing them in their tracks, but then what could they do with them? Michelangelo had seen her exorcize Dr. Malignus, but they weren't sure if they could actually do it. Besides they had left the swords in the Lair with Leonardo and Donatello. By the time they returned to the Lair it was nightfall.

"How did it go?" Donatello asked him as he and Michelangelo got off the bike.

"It rides like a dream, weapons work, shields work, invisibility shield works. I think the only thing it doesn't do is fly. It's chaos out there Donny. People are running around doin' some crazy stuff. But I don't see any way we can stop it. I mean they are possessed. How are we supposed to help with that? I don't know about you , but I don't know any good priests." Raphael said as he peeled his helmet off. "So how did you guys make out with the chalk mumbo jumbo?" Raphael asked.

"Well the closest thing I could come up with is that it seems to be some form of Angelic script, which I guess makes sense since you want to keep demons out. What I don't know is if they have to be in the order that she laid out for us, but I would have to assume that the order is important. There are two complete circles with the protective sigils laid out between the two circles. The writing also appears to go clockwise. We have reproduced it several times, and they appear to work although we don't have any demons to test that theory. But we can feel the current of power that shoots through the circle when we close it. If you smudge the chalk from the inside it breaks the circle."

"Okay so basically we can possibly exorcize demons with her swords and create a circle that will protect us." Raphael said looking around Donatello's workshop.

It was then that the earthquake hit. It was small, no damages and no lives lost according to the news, but the brothers looked at each other. "Why do I have the feeling that they just hit Hell?" Leonardo asked, his voice bleak.

Silently the brothers walked into the living room. Donatello got a call from April, who he had to reassure that they were fine. Donatello had to convince April to stay away, but she finally agreed.

Raphael slumped onto the couch, while Michelangelo took the seat next to him. Leonardo was standing behind the couch arms crossed in thought. Donatello joined them sitting down on the loveseat. Leonardo quietly took the chair. They sat in silence for a few minutes, each contemplating their own thoughts.

What did any of it mean? Raphael wondered to himself. He was more a turtle of action, not taken to sitting and thinking, but when she had talked to Gabriel, what she had revealed. He was trying to wrap his head around it. And he was so worried he couldn't even breathe. What if she didn't make it. What if the Fall killed her?

"Kaethryn." Leonardo whispered.

"No, Katherine. That's what she said, 'me, present me.'" Donatello said running a hand over his head. "Although she talked as if she wasn't Katherine either, but was. It's too much to even wrap my head around, although now some of what she said actually makes sense, but...I can't even imagine. "

Raphael let the conversation of his brothers drift around him. He tested her name in his head _Katherine_. It seemed such an ordinary name for such an amazing woman. He looked at the scars that spanned his body. He remembered when she had told him about all of her scars. It was her, who had suffered all of those wounds. But she was only a human. A human woman who had loved angels no less. How was he to ever compete with that? Her as a goddess of magic and all its creatures, he might have stood a chance, a very slim chance that she could actually love a creature such as he, but a human, there would be no way she would ever feel that way.

He stood up angrily. His brothers looked at him. "She's a human! There is no way she would choose any of us." He yelled in frustration putting into words what he had thought.

"Raphael!" Leonardo said reprovingly.

"No Leo..." He began.

Leonardo stood and walked up to him. "No Raph. What, now she's _just _a human to you?" He asked him angrily.

"She lied to us Leo!"

"She's not _just_ a human Raph. She's not _just _anything. So what, so she used to be human thousands of years ago! Thousands Raph! Can you even grasp how long she has been around! Civilizations have risen and fallen in that length of time!"

"She's loved Angels Leo, I mean look at Gabriel, from a human perspective that guy was...perfect!" He shouted.

"You are such an ass Raph." Leonardo said as he hauled back and punched him.

Michelangelo stood up slowly. "I'm going to bed, you two can act like hotheads all you want."

"Don't you care Mikey?" Raphael asked angrily.

He stopped and looked at them with disgust. "Look at you two fighting over her like she is nothing but a piece of meat. She is literally going to Hell, all because she has no other thought but to make sure we stay safe. Didn't you hear what Gabriel said, they tortured her in Hell, and yet she went back for us, for Gabriel because that is the type of person...goddess that she is. She is too good for any of us, don't you two get that?

Leonardo looked away. "He's right." He said as he sat back down on the couch studying his hands. "She was what each one of us needed her to be. She spent night after night with Donatello working on the new shell cycle, or helping him with whatever he was fixing. Her and Mikey poured over those damn comics, fighting over the best super heroes. She watched all of those wrestling shows and movies with Raph. Helped him when he couldn't fight. Fought with him anyway because he needed it, both verbally and physically. And she fought with me as well. Constantly pushing me, being patient with me. Even though I was so distrustful of her, distrustful of myself. She went out and bought me a book, because she knew I liked to read. Even though I was following her around, trying to prove to myself that she couldn't be what she was, couldn't be as good as she was. But what did any of us ever do for her?" He stood up angrily. "We all claim to love her but do any of us really know what _she_ likes? Stopped to ask what things she would enjoy? I know her favourite book and I lied to her about reading it. I threw her gift back in her face, and she knew, knew I had lied about reading it, but she didn't say anything, didn't call me on my lie." His face contorted with regret. "All I know is that she is the most caring woman I have ever met and we have been selfish. She has given us everything, hell she even gave Raphael his life back, at a cost we don't even know, and she has asked for _nothing _in return. And right now she is still giving. But has any of us been to her what she needed? Probably not and here were are fighting over her asking her to _choose_ one of us. Michelangelo is right, we don't deserve her." Leonardo's voice broke with regret.

"You forgot one important thing Leo." Donatello said looking at them all seriously. "We have three days, or less before all of Hell comes looking for her to either kill her or conscript her. And there is nothing we can do to help her."

They looked at each other in a painful silence. Slowly each one walked to their rooms in silence. Donatello stopped at his door and looked at them. "She's hiding something. She cut Gabriel off twice when he was going to say something."

Donatello gently closed the door to his room.

Raphael entered his room, closed the door and leaned against it. He was terrified. That was the only way he could describe what he was feeling. He was terrified he was going to lose her. He knew he shouldn't be so selfish. Knew he wasn't good enough for her, knew his brothers loved her as much as he did, and yet he still coveted her, heart, body and soul. He wanted them all, and he had a feeling that she may not be around long enough for him to win her. He slid down his door and sat on the cold floor. It was the thought of her leaving that terrified him. Today seemed too much like a goodbye. Precautions in case...in case what, she's not there to protect them, in case what? In case she's killed? He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He didn't think sleep would come but it did.

Raphael opened his eyes and looked around. He was standing in a room. At least he got the impression that it was a room, but he couldn't see any walls or ceiling. He turned in a circle. Where was he?

"You're in your own mind, dumb-ass." A voice behind him said. He spun around and encountered himself. It looked like him, but the other him wore a black mask, battered black jeans, and a black t-shirt. His hands were plunged deep into the pockets of a black trench coat, a stylish black fedora accented with grey pulled down low over his eyes. The other him walked quickly forward and punched him in the jaw. Raphael was knocked to the ground.

He rubbed his jaw in shock. That had hurt, really hurt. He was surprised because he had figured he was dreaming.

"Nice deduction Sherlock." He said to himself. "I have been wanting to do that for years!" His other self said with a malicious grin. "Please get up again so I can knock you back down."

"What is your problem!" Raphael yelled at himself.

The fedora was blocking a view of his eyes, but the other him seemed angry.

"You!" he said angrily. "I have wanted to kick your ass for years, but not as much as in the last two months. I have had to deal with you moping around feeling sorry for yourself, and then to top it off the way you have been acting towards Goddess, rrrggghh, just pisses me off even more!"

"I haven't done anything to her!" He shouted back.

"And that would be the problem. If you don't do something about that soon, Leonardo is going to steal the march on you. Hell, even Donatello might steal her."

"You can't take away what you haven't got. She's not mine to claim. And how can you even be going there, she is in Hell right now and I am so worried that she is not coming back that I can't even think straight. And just who do you think you are anyway?"

"I am you, you idiot."

"What do you mean you are me?"

"I am you, I am the darker half of your personality, which means I am the fun one. When Goddess was here she did something, probably accidentally, but I'll take it. Now I am able to actually talk with you while you are sleeping, neat huh?"

"Yeah great." Raphael said rubbing his jaw as he stood up. "Besides did you see Gabriel? I can't compete with that! I am not good enough for her!" He said to him.

"Yes you can, and yes you are. Besides I will clue you in on a little something that seems to have escaped you attention. She is no more human than you are. Not like that little bit of information mattered to you anyway. In fact it made her more real, more relatable to you, so quit complaining. Now listen up because I am only going to say this once. A woman does not look at a man, or in our case turtle, like she has looked at you and felt nothing but purely platonic feelings. And for those of us who need a dictionary that means she does not view you as just a friend. Unfortunately she has not put any of our brothers into that category either. As for her being in Hell. I am you, I know how you are feeling right now and I think if someone just ripped out my heart right now I would feel better than I feel right now. I was not created for this." He said rubbing his forehead, knocking his fedora slightly askew. "Whatever she did that makes me able to talk to you, made me...more. And its driving me nuts." He looked down at his hands and clenched them. He looked back at Raphael. "Can't you feel her Raphael? Maybe its best that you can't right now, but I'll tell you this much, she's coming back." He said with absolute conviction. "You can't let us feel like this anymore. We both want her. Want her more than anything and you can try to hide and pretend that she will never choose us, but...we need to have her in our arms again. We love her so much." He whispered. "She wants us, you have no idea how badly."

"No she doesn't."

"No?" His darker self asked. "Her and I had a nice little chat while she was here. She called me Dark Raphael. I like the moniker, so I'll keep it. I think she didn't think you would remember any of this so she indulged a little. Of course under normal circumstances you wouldn't remember any of it, but now you have me." He said with a smile.

Raphael waited impatiently. "Any day now."

"Well, she popped into your Memory Room. Caught a glimpse of your flat screen that was playing bits of your 'best of' fantasy reel. Thought I would pop in and introduce myself."

"What Memory Room, and what do you mean by a fantasy reel?"

Dark Raphael rolled his eyes. "Every memory you have ever had is stored in your Memory Room which you can't access so don't bother. Anyway, your fantasy reel is all of those wishes, dreams...desires, that you have always wanted. Like winning the WWE championship belt, winning the title of Battle Nexus champion from Mikey, becoming leader, things like that. But that is just the mundane everyday stuff." He smiled evilly. "You have a triple X channel where our lovely Goddess has gained a starring role." Raphael felt the blood rush to his face. "You know exactly what I am talking about. Well I just had to show her since she was here."

"You didn't."He felt himself pale.

"She was most interested, even sat and watched a little bit."

"She did what!" He asked.

"I think she was rather impressed by your...imagination." If Raphael could sink into the floor he would do it. Now he was never going to be able to face her again...ever!

"Oh I wouldn't think that. Here." He said tossing him a pillow that looked like it was from the couch in their living room.

He shifted, that's the only way he could describe what happened. Suddenly he was looking at her lying down on the couch, eyes wide with shock, then she was pulling him close, body arching to meet his. It was a flurry of touches, caresses, lips and tongues working together to drive them both mad with desire. She pulled off his trench coat, and it landed heavily on the floor. Next his weapons were pulled out and discarded on top of the trench coat. Oddly enough she left the fedora on. His shirt was the next to go followed by his pants and underwear. Then she was touching him again. Her clothing made its way on the floor to join his. She was soft and warm and willing. He could feel her desire humming through her whole body. She wanted him. Wanted him in the way a woman wants a man. And he was a man, sure he was a turtle, but she didn't care, all that mattered was him and her.

Suddenly the image was ripped away. He felt as if the breath had been knocked from his body. "She...you..." He tried to think through his lust. "You bastard!" He yelled at his dark half. "You..."he began.

"Slow down there Raphael. It would be stupid to be jealous of yourself for one, and for two that's it, that's all, unfortunately she transported to your Soul Room right after that. But I have wondered if she would have let us go to third base." He said with a lust filled smile. His smile disappeared and he looked at him angrily. "That is why you have to find out what is stopping her from actually doing that with you while you are awake. There is a reason, find it out, do that thing couples do, it is called talking to each other. Try it. You will have to get her away from our brothers, and I can't believe I am actually going to say this since I am usually the one that feeds your rage, but for once try not to lose your temper. Or if you do, channel it into something a little bit more...pleasurable."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Raphael snapped awake and sat up. "What an ass." He mumbled to himself as he sat up. He looked down at himself and cursed. Now he needed to dunk himself in the world's biggest bucket of ice. The only thing his darker half had right was that he wanted her back so he could hold her, maybe tell her he loved her.

He stood up and stretched. But besides making him wild with desire, that little jaunt as his darker half had also made him realize that those smouldering looks that she had directed his way, had also been directed at his brothers. He had just been too dense to realize what those looks had meant. He had no experience with women. Their friend April was only that, a friend. They had never viewed her as anything else.

He wanted to kick himself. No wonder Leonardo had been as angry as he had been these last two months. If Raphael loved her as much as he did, and Leonardo felt the same way, but had tried stepping aside, well, ripping out his heart _would _be less painful. He walked out of his room.

Then there were Michelangelo and Donatello. She had always looked at them with the same intensity as well.

He found Donatello sleeping on the couch. He looked down at his sleeping brother. He had wondered why Donatello had picked the couch to sleep on, but as he neared it he could smell Her. "She's got us all." He whispered. But how could one brother take something he knew his other brothers wanted so badly? The answer was that they couldn't. And yet...and yet. He knew he still wanted her to choose. He wanted her to choose him, wanted her to stay with him. He knew he couldn't protect her from Hell, but he wanted to. He wanted to be her guy. The one who she turned to when she needed something, someone. His darker self was right, they all needed to sit down and have a talk. And what was she hiding?

He turned and almost walked into Leonardo. "I couldn't sleep." Leonardo whispered as he sat down on the love seat. Michelangelo walked up behind Leonardo.

"I couldn't sleep either. I was going to pop in a movie." Michelangelo said walking around the love seat to sit beside Leonardo.

"I think the only one getting any rest is sleeping beauty over here." Raphael said pointing at Donatello.

Leonardo looked at Donatello. "He's been working hard, trying to figure out all of those symbols, he's also been trying to figure out what she didn't want us to know."

"Well I was sleeping." Donatello grumbled as he sat up.

Michelangelo looked around sniffing the air. "Does anyone else smell bacon?" He asked.

They all looked at each other and followed the smell into Donatello's workroom. Donatello switched on the lights and looking around they couldn't see anything. It was then that the air began to feel heavy, like the feeling before a thunderstorm. The very air seemed to crackle. Raphael looked around wildly. One minute the spot where she had Fallen was empty the next she knelt in a ring of fire. The heat was so intense it drove them back. She slowly stood, they could only see her silhouette through the flames. Her wings rose the fell down quickly extinguishing the flames.

Raphael tried to move his legs to go to her but he was immobilized by horror. Her wings were in tatters, and the right side of her body was charred black. She was clutching her charred arm which had a piece of bone piercing through the charred flesh. If this wasn't bad enough there were sigils cut into every inch of her skin. They glowed red and were even cut into the parts of her flesh that had been charred. Her clothes were a ruin Most of her clothes were in tattered blackened strips that left most of her ruined body exposed.

She fell to her knees. She shook herself and tried standing again, but collapsed. Donatello was the first to move followed by Leonardo. Raphael ran to her. He looked down at her and didn't know what to do. Donatello had knelt in front of her, arms hovering over her shoulders. Raphael could see his problem he didn't want to touch her for fear of hurting her further, there just wasn't anywhere on her that wasn't either burnt or carved with crimson sigils. The right side of her face wasn't too bad, only a little was burnt on her cheek, but the sigils were carved even into the flesh of her face.

She looked at Donatello agony etched into her face. She looked at her arm. It was badly burnt and with the bone sticking out. "I'm sorry I...I don't." Donatello said shaking his head. She looked at her arm then grabbed her shoulder. "What are you...?" Donatello asked. She seemed to brace herself fingers digging into the flesh of her arm like... Donatello looked at her in horror and grabbed her hand."No..no there has to be something else!"

She removed the hand from her shoulder. She looked back at her arm took a deep breath and grabbed onto the piece of bone that was sticking out. "What are you..." Donatello began. There was a loud crack as bone broke from bone. She winced in pain and threw the piece of bone away where it promptly began to dissolve into a fine black mist. She grabbed her arm and with a sickening crack she snapped the remaining bone back into place. She screamed in pain, clenching her jaw tightly she closed her eyes. Bile rose in Raphael's throat.

Raphael heard Michelangelo gagging behind him. Leonardo looked at him. "Don't you dare puke Mikey." He said sternly.

"Goddess." Donatello whispered.

"Donatello I..." Something passed between them, some understanding that did not require spoken words and Raphael felt a stab of jealousy. She was trying to breathe steadily, her good arm protectively holding her injured one. Blood dripped slowly to the floor from the open wounds and charred flesh. She leaned into Donatello and he caught her. She whimpered slightly. Raphael could see that slowly her body was healing itself. Very slowly. Donatello clutched her to him like a drowning man. "Michelangelo." She said reaching out her good arm. Michelangelo knelt down beside her. She clutched at him. "Please stop me before I take too much." She pleaded. He held onto her arm while she turned back to Donatello. She nuzzled into his neck then there was a crunch as she bit into the soft vulnerable flesh of his neck. Donatello winced in pain then he groaned, but he still held her tightly. She drank, and drank and continued to drink.

Raphael looked at her in worry. "Leo..."

Michelangelo gently took a hold of her shoulders. She growled but let go. She looked at Donatello who opened his eyes and looked at her. He was looking very pale, almost grey. He seemed to be oddly dazed. She brought his face towards her own and kissed him. Donatello kissed her back. She broke away from the kiss and leaned her forehead against his. Raphael couldn't help it, rage ran through him shot with jealousy. She turned eyes toward him and he noticed the red glint in them. They were still green, but the pupil almost seemed to reflect red in the light.

"No, no, right here. I have a nice juicy neck to be chewing on. Besides I'm much better looking than Raphael." Michelangelo said as he gathered her into his arms. Slowly her attention turned to him.

"She's in so much pain Mikey, be careful." Donatello managed to slur out. Leonardo supported him as they watched her study Michelangelo. Her body was beginning to heal faster now.

The sigils were now completely healed and the more minor burns had begun to heal. She looked at Michelangelo studying his face. Slowly she moved in, but grabbed both sides of his face. She kissed him as she had Donatello. He kissed her back wrapping his arms around her. She pulled back and bit him. "Ow, hey that hu..." Then Michelangelo closed his eyes groaning. She drank him down as well, Leonardo tried to grab her shoulders, but she flinched back letting go of Michelangelo. She looked at Leonardo a little dazedly. She blinked and looked back at Michelangelo then to Donatello. She moved back to Michelangelo's neck and bit again. Michelangelo winced in pain but let her drink some more. Finally she broke away looking into Michelangelo's eyes. She moved Michelangelo's head to the side and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" She asked him touching the side of his face. He leaned into her touch.

"Shouldn't we be asking you that?' He said with a smile. She smiled back at him. She turned her attention to Donatello, who was looking worse than Michelangelo.

"Are you okay Donatello?" She leaned down and put her ear to his chest. She closed her eyes and Donatello wrapped his arms around her. They lay like that for about a minute or two. Michelangelo was pressed against her back. She opened her eyes and pulled back slightly. "I'm sorry Donatello. I need to get stronger then I will help you. If Leonardo and Raphael allow me to feed, I will be able to heal you, all of you by tomorrow." She leaned back a little and Donatello and Michelangelo both leaned their heads on her shoulders. She closed her eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Leonardo asked. He knelt down in front of her and tried to take her hand. She moved it out of the way before he could touch her. Leonardo looked at her in hurt and shock. Leonardo stood up and stepped back.

Raphael wondered what was wrong. He knelt down as well. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Don't." Was all she said. "I can't have either of you touching me right now, so just don't." She said in a soft voice. She didn't sound angry, just tired. He looked at Leonardo. He couldn't help letting the hurt of her rejection show in his eyes. Leonardo looked at him, his face an expressionless mask.

"Raphael, you are leaking so much rage at the moment, you could fill a kiddie pool, and Leonardo, you aren't doing much better, yours is just better contained. You both are filled with so much rage and hurt and jealousy. I need to heal first, and remember that I don't want to kill you. Your rage, your hurt, all of your negative emotions will flow over me, and consume me, and I will kill you all. My Blood Lust is trying to consume me. My body is vampiric and thus has all of the desires, all of the needs that come with it. When you consume someone's blood, you are consuming more than just blood, you are also taking their life force. There is no greater sensation than when drinking someone down than to taste the coppery sweetness rolling over your tongue; to smell the scent of fear or desire rising from a warm body; to listen as the heart begins to slow; to hear that last exhalation of breath, to see the light leave someone's eyes forever. To deny yourself a death is to deny what and who you are. Leonardo was right to not trust me, because make no mistake, there is a part of me that is a monster."

"You're not a monster." Leonardo said to her.

She smiled a half smile. "Yes I am. I can be as merciful as I can be merciless Leonardo. Never forget that." Her eyes were glinting red again. "Someone please kiss me." She whispered.

Michelangelo turned her face towards him and kissed her. Raphael turned his head away. Finally she said. "The Hunger needs a different desire. Desire for blood and for death, turned instead into a desire for flesh, for touch. It is either kiss them of kill them. I would prefer to kiss them."

"Then kiss me!" Raphael yelled at her.

She smiled at them. And he grew furious. She closed her eyes and smelled the air. She opened her eyes again and they were darker, pupils dilated but glinting red. She looked at him with lust filled eyes, but if it was lust for his death, or just plain lust he wasn't sure. Donatello turned her to face him and he kissed her.

"How can you two even sit there while the other one kisses her?" Raphael screamed.

She broke away from Donatello's kiss."Because they are not jealous like you and Leonardo. They are neither of them possessive in the way that you both are. They are also still feeling the after effects of my bite. My bite can be as pleasurable as it can be painful." She closed her eyes. "I was so afraid that I would kill them, that I would forget how much...I would never forgive myself if something happened to any of you." She leaned her head back. She tried to stand. She slid herself up the wall.

"Thank you." She whispered. She pulled them both up. They stood leaning against the wall, a little shakily, but they stood. Clear moss green eyes looked at Raphael. "Do you think you can help Michelangelo and Donatello back to their rooms? Please Raphael?" She asked him. He couldn't say no. His anger and jealousy had faded slightly and if he had to get rid of it in order for her to touch him again, he would try to let it go. Raphael looked at Leonardo who had been silent for almost her entire conversation. He looked like something was bothering him. Her gaze flickered to Leonardo and she looked back at him sending him a silent message. _I need to talk to Leonardo, alone._

He looked at her. _But..."_ he sent back to her.

_Please Raphael. _

Raphael nodded and walked over to her. "Thank you Raphael." She said to him as his name dripped from her lips like it was the sweetest honey.

"I'll be in my room if you need me." He whispered in her ear. He got himself under each arm of his brothers and helped them walk to their rooms.

Authors note: The next chapter is very rated M, just so you know, and you were totally wanrned.=)


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Leonardo watched the silent exchange between her and Raphael. Raphael helped his brothers to their rooms and she turned her attention to him. Her eyes blazed amber. He took a step back. She marched up to him and slapped him hard across the face. His face burned but she had obviously held back because his head was still attached to his body. "Don't you ever do that again." She said in a deadly low voice to him. "Ever. Never offer your life to a Being of Power. I almost killed you Leonardo. I would have killed you and I would never have been able to forgive myself. If I had an ounce less of will power you would be dead and I would not have been able to bring you back. Your brothers never would have forgiven me, and I would have been responsible for the death of a man that I lo..." She cut herself off. He looked at her in shock. She walked away from him as he moved to take her into his arms. There were tears in her storm blue eyes. A man that she loved?

"Don't ask the question that you are about to ask Leonardo. I cannot answer it the way you would wish me to. Ask me instead the question that you wished to ask me."

"But..." He began. She shook her head then looked down at her right arm which was now completely healed. She moved her hand flexing and bending it. His mind turned to the original question he was going to ask her. He wanted to step closer to her. To wrap his arms around her, but she was not offering him any encouragement to step any closer to her."Would you have really ripped your arm off?" Leonardo asked instead.

She looked at him. "That is the question that I was expecting from you." She said looking into his eyes.

"Why didn't you want my brothers to hear what you were going to say to me?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "Your brothers did not need to listen to my anger, and they do not need to hear the answer to your question. Possibly Raphael could stand to hear it, but not Donatello and especially not Michelangelo."

"You are dancing around the question again." He said slightly irritated.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time, it was very badly damaged." She said suddenly.

"But..." He began.

"I feel pain the same way you do Leonardo. Pain is pain, but ripping my arm off would have saved me from having to try to get the bone back to where it should have been." She said tiredly. "But the thought of me ripping my arm off seemed to disturb you, so I opted to do what I did, which was just as painful. At least if I had just ripped it off I wouldn't have continued to feel the pain of the entire arm anymore. The arm was so badly damaged that it actually took more blood to heal it than it would have to re-grow it."

"How would you even know that?" Leonardo asked bile rising in his throat.

She shrugged, still not meeting his eyes. "It would not be the first limb I have had to re-grow." She looked at him. "I'm not discussing it Leonardo so don't ask." She said to him. He felt himself pale.

She gave him an inscrutable look and walked out of Donatello's work room. He followed her and watched as she grabbed a blanket from the couch and wrapped it around herself. Somehow she managed to wrap it in such a way that she looked exactly like how you would imagine an elegant beautiful goddess to look. She even managed to make the soot, ash and blood look good. She then walked over to him and reached out her hand to him. He looked at her hand in confusion. "Have you ever danced Leonardo?"

Leonardo blinked in shock at the question. "No." He replied.

She tipped her head slightly to the side. "No I guess you wouldn't have." She said sadly. "Come dance with me Leonardo." She whispered.

He took her hand in his and she pulled him in close. She showed him how to move his feet and when he got the hang of it she began to hum a tune. The song drifted around him and he felt himself moving in time to the music. "I figured that you would be a graceful dancer." She said to him. Leonardo blushed. "I miss dancing." She said wistfully. "I miss the music, the feel of two people moving as one. I know the waltz is an old person dance, or a wedding dance, but I danced it when it was the most scandalous dance ever brought to England." She said wistfully. "To actually touch the waist and stand so close to your dance partner, why it was positively indecent." Leonardo twirled her around the lair to the tune that was now running through his mind. She was quiet for a moment as he watched her silently. She was looking away from him caught in a memory of long ago. She pulled him closer and leaned her head on his shoulder. He put his head on hers and slowed so that they were barely moving anymore, more just swaying to unheard music. She tipped her head up.

"You smell good Leonardo." She said dreamily.  
Leonardo stopped moving as he felt the scrape of canines against his throat. He froze as fear raced through him. She moved her face away from his neck and she gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. Her skin had begun to glow, her eyes a luminous green with a red tinted pupil.

She pulled away from him and he felt bereft. "No I..." She put a finger to his lips and smiled a soft smile at him.

"I would never ask anything from you that you could not give Leonardo." She turned and walked in the direction of the bathroom, pulling the blanket off she dropped it onto the couch. She walked into the bathroom leaving the door open a crack. He heard the shower turn on and watched as steam rolled out from the crack in the door.

He walked slowly to the door and placed his hand on the door handle. He rested his head against the frame as he contemplated entering the bathroom. _She had left the door open, but was it an invitation or not?_ He questioned himself. He stood there a few minutes before finally gathering up the courage to open the door the rest of the way and walk in. He gently closed the door behind him and locked it. Steam rolled around the bathroom, but he could see the blurry outline of her in the steam filled shower. He had entered the bathroom, but now that he was in there he didn't know what to do. She needed his blood, but he feared her bite. He didn't fear the pain, he feared what her bite would do to him. The fact that Michelangelo and Donatello seemed to have lost some of their own will scared him. It frightened him to lose any control over himself, even to give it up to her, for her, it was something he didn't think he could do.

He turned and walked back to the door placing his hand on the handle. He closed his eyes. For her, he could give up a moment of control. He walked back to the shower and waited for her to be finished.

"If you are going to be in here, you might as well come in here and help me." Her voice drifted over the sound of the shower.

He looked at the shower door with trepidation. He stripped himself of his mask, his pants and underwear and stood in front of the shower nude and apprehensive. She opened the door and held out a hand for him. "Really, you've seen mine, now I get to see yours." She said with a smile and half closed eyes. "And no, me waking up naked on top of you doesn't count." He took her hand and she pulled him into the warmth of the water. Luckily for them the shower had been built oversized so the two of them fit without it being too cramped. Her wings took up quite a bit of room. She had turned to face the showerhead. She looked at him over her shoulder and handed him a bar of soap. "Why did I wake up naked on top of you anyway?" She asked.

"Um..." He was trying to get his brain functioning. He fought with his body and failed to get it under control. "Mikey noticed that the black veins faded if you touched us, so we each took turns with you until you woke up." He finally managed.

"Huh." She said pausing in thought. "My body broke down the bad blood expelling it into the air. But I guess my body wanted to touch magic, maybe it helped. Thank you Leonardo. Now if you could get the blood and ash from my back I would appreciate it."

He took the bar of soap in his hand and looked at her back. Her skin was still glowing, it was pale but there was a strip of black down the center. Black scales delicately covered parts of her back and he felt himself grow harder. "You have scales." He whispered.

She chuckled as she began washing her hair with shampoo. "I am part reptile Leonardo, and part many other things." her tail languidly moved from side to side.

He watched as the soap ran down caressing each curve of her back. Muscles bunched and moved and he realized he had never seen anything so erotically beautiful in his entire life. She turned around and began washing the shampoo from her hair. He watched as soap ran down and lovingly caressed the soft curves of her breasts, sliding lower rolling over her belly until it hit the patch of hair between her legs. Pulling on willpower he didn't even know he possessed he worked the soap into her skin, caressing hard delicate scales. He tried to think pure thoughts, but he couldn't. The feel of her skin, the scent of her body, her scent, not the scent of the shampoo or the scent of the soap, overwhelmed him. She always complained that his scent did something to her, well her scent drove him crazy. He closed his eyes and stepped out of the shower. He needed to get away from the temptation of her. He stumbled from the shower grabbing a towel and wrapping it around himself.

He leaned against the door to the bathroom watching as she turned the water off and wrung her hair out. She was watching him intently.

"I'm sorry I..." He began but stopped as she stepped from the shower. His brain stopped working.

He watched her walk towards him, hips swaying, each movement sensual and dripping sex. She stopped before him breasts almost brushing his chest. She tipped her head to the side assessing him. She smelled him which should have been disconcerting, but for some reason he found alluring.

"I can smell your desire Leonardo, I know you want to touch me, so why do you deny yourself?" She asked him, eyes glinting red.

"Because I..." _Have no idea what I would even do._ He finished the sentence in his head.

She pressed herself up against him. She tipped his head to the side slightly. Her breath was warm on his neck. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come. He tried to slow his breathing and accept what was going to come. Canines scrapped against his flesh. The feeling was oddly erotic. She turned around, throwing her arms around his neck, her ass pushed into the hardness of his groin. His hands travelled down the sides of her body of their own volition. They slid back up and cupped her breasts running his hands over them, enjoying the sensation. His own mouth went to her neck as he nuzzled her and lightly nipped. She groaned and his control shattered. He knelt down and picked her up, towel sliding to the floor. He wasn't going to do this here.

He managed to get the door open and he carried her to his room. He kicked his door shut and locked it. She had haunted his dreams too many nights to count. He lay her down on his bed and kissed her. He had never been with a woman before. Hell he never thought he was ever going to be with a woman...ever. He revelled in her skin. He touched ever inch of skin he could touch. He slid himself down her body and explored between her legs. She was warm and wet and she moaned body arching off of the bed. He stilled as desire raged through him, desire and something else, something primal. That feeling that men experienced when they knew a woman was wet and willing and it was because she desired him. It was him that she wanted. He brought his head down and tasted her and she groaned louder. He knew he was being tentative and probably clumsy, but her moans were giving him more confidence. She pulled him up, wrapping a leg around his leg, his hard length was trapped between himself and her groin. She reached up grabbed his neck brought it down and bit. Pain coursed through him followed by mind numbing pleasure.

She drank and she drank, finally she broke away from his neck and kissed him again. She tasted sweet almost like honey, but underneath was a faint tinge of copper. His blood was on her lips, in her mouth and on her tongue and he had never wanted to taste anything more. It was no wonder Michelangelo and Donatello had kissed her when she had asked. To kiss her was to taste pure bliss. She moved against him and he cried out in pleasure. She broke away from his kiss and tipped his neck the other way. He pulled himself down slightly and felt himself slide between her legs. He was pressed against her entrance and he stopped looking at her. He wanted to slide himself into her depths so badly it almost hurt. He wanted to claim her as his, and if he did she would be his, for an eternity. He looked into her luminous green eyes and knew she wouldn't stop him. He clenched her tightly. He couldn't, not yet. He moved himself away from temptation.

He kissed her again, but she broke away tilting his head and biting the other side of his neck. She began moving in a rhythm against him and the pleasure washed through his like the roaring sea. He plunged his finger into her matching her rhythm. She writhed against him and he could barely hold onto his own control. Finally he shuddered his release as he screamed. Her muscles clenched and she screamed his name.

She pulled away from his neck, blood running down her chin. He wiped the blood away with his free hand. She licked his finger and he shuddered. Spots flashed before his eyes.

"I..." He began but she silenced him.

"Shhh Leonardo. I took too much." She said softly. "It's time for you to o to sleep Leonardo, but first..." She bit into her wrist blood dripped from the wound. She offered it to him and he drank. The blood coursed through him, warming him. The dizziness and spots disappeared and he pulled away from her wrist. He watched in fascination as the wound closed. He was tired. Even with her blood coursing through his veins he felt tired.

"Go to sleep Leonardo. My blood will heal you through the night, I have to see to Donatello and Michelangelo." She said as she stroked his cheek and then kissed him. "I would have stopped you Leonardo." She whispered to him. "I wouldn't have wanted to, but I would have." She stood up and looked at him, eyes glinting red in the semi-darkness.

She walked to his door but paused when he spoke. "Katherine..." He began. She looked back at him. "Katherine please don't leave...us" He managed to say before sleep claimed him.

Authors note: expect more of the same for the next chapter, hope you enjoy!=)


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Raphael must have fallen asleep because he woke up when the door of his room opened. He saw her silhouette outlined in the doorway. She paused in the threshold then turned away as if she were going to leave.

"Goddess?" He questioned.

"I'm sorry I woke you Raphael, go back to sleep." She whispered.

He sat up and shifted his legs to the floor standing up quickly. "No don't go...please."

She gave a humourless laugh. "That is what Leonardo asked of me as well." But she turned and walked back into the room. His bedside lamp illuminated her as she got closer to the bed. Her luminous body was naked, hair wet, tiny droplets of water were still running down her body from her wet hair, and he was jealous of each and every drop. Glowing green eyes with red pupils looked at him without expression, but her body was radiating some barely controlled emotion.

"What do you mean that is what Leo asked of you. Was Leo tryin'...?" He couldn't finish the sentence.

"I believe his exact words were 'please don't leave us' before he fell asleep." She said looking at him.

He walked up to her, but it was like she didn't quite want him to touch her. He reached out anyway and brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face. "And what did you answer?" He asked.

She looked at him steadily. "I cannot make promises I cannot keep Raphael." She whispered. "I..." She leaned her head on his chest. "I can still smell your blood in this room, as well as Michelangelo's." She whispered as her body began to glow brighter. "I want your touch Raphael, I want to taste you, I want to drink you down and I want you to beg me not to stop." She said as she looked at him, eyes full of lust and violence. "But..." She whispered. She turned and began walking from his room.

"Wait, what did I do?" Raphael asked her while grabbing her arm to stop her from leaving.

She turned her face away. "Leonardo was frightened of me." She said to him. "And it hurt to know that, and yet it took ever single bit of will I possessed to not rip his throat out when he showed me fear. To show fear is to initiate a kill response. I could have killed him. "

"Hey," Raphael said as he brought her face around to look at him. She looked at him, eyes glinting red in the light. "It's okay. Leo will get over it. You don't need Leo's blood anyway, you can just have mine. And you didn't kill him so it's okay." He said pulling her closer. She shook her head and stepped back.

"You don't understand Raphael. It's not okay. I almost killed him again, I was able to walk away but he followed me into the shower. I had to turn that want to kill into another want and it raged." She looked at him again eyes tinting red in the light. "It still rages."

He looked at her in confusion.

She looked at him. "My body feels like it's on fire, burning from the inside out, but I can't ask it of you Raphael."

He stilled as he tried to make sense of what she was saying. His heart started beating faster and her eyes dilated with desire. "I fed on blood, I revelled in desire, in lust and I made Leonardo scream in pleasure as he made me scream mine." She whispered to him voice low, and with each word she had stepped closer to him as if mocking him with each hurtful image that rocked through his mind.

Raphael felt himself grow hot with anger. "You've chosen him." He said through clenched teeth.

She looked at him shaking her head. "No." She said.

She put her hands on his shoulders to keep him from charging from the room. "I'm going to kill him." He said furiously .

"Kiss him or kill him Raphael. But you are right. I crossed the line I gave myself. I promised myself I would do no more than a touch here, an embrace there. But then you kissed me Raphael, and I wanted to touch, to kiss, to feel so much more."

She looked at him eyes smouldering. And he remembered what had happened in his Memory Room. "You with...Dark Raphael." He whispered.

"Yes, but you _are _DarkRaphael. He wasn't before, just the devil on your shoulder, but I interfered, I changed him, I know I did. It wasn't purposeful but, it was why I didn't try to heal you before. I didn't know if I actually could help you, but I don't like going into people's minds because it is a private place. Thoughts and emotions, wants and desires, those things are personal. And I didn't want to accidentally make you worse by interfering in some way. Even as I am, I am powerful and I did change a piece of you." She looked at him with regret. "I'm sorry for that Raphael."

He shook his head. He didn't care about that, so he actually could talk with himself in his head when he slept, so what. "Like I care about that." He said with a growl. He moved suddenly knocking her back. Anger flowed off of him. She took a few steps back. He felt powerful then. He knew she wasn't scared of him, and yet her body's reaction to step back, to give ground, to flee, awoke something primal in him, the need for the chase, the need for her to submit to him, for him to claim her as his.

She sniffed the air, eyes wide, expression unfathomable.

"Why did you tell me about Leo?" He growled at her as he took another step forward. She took another step back.

"Because I wanted you to know, because to not tell you, and if something happened between us, would be like lying, like cheating." She said, voice low.

He stepped forward as she took another step back. Then he charged her. She turned to run but he hit her slamming her into the wall. He pinned her arms to the side, his body flush with hers. His anger raged. His face was mere inches from hers, red flashed in her eyes. "I am so pissed off right now!" He raged. "But I guess I will take a page from your book, either I kiss you , or I kill him. I am going to make you forget all about Leo. All you will be able to crave will be my touch, my kiss, and I'm going to make you cry out **MY** name." He growled.

She looked at him eyes blazing. "Not if I make you cry out first." She said as she pushed him back, or tired to. She was using her mortal strength, which meant he was stronger. He could control her. He claimed her lips pushing her into the wall. He broke away and swung her up into his arms. He took a few steps then roughly tossed her onto the bed. She growled at him eyes flashing red. He leapt on top of her pushing her into the softness of the bed. He had never been so turned on in his life. She was a hairs breath from losing control. He could see his death in her eyes and death had never looked so damn good. He held her arms down as he kissed her. She squirmed beneath him. He growled his desire into her mouth. He let go of an arm and his underwear made it onto the floor. He pressed himself against her and then gently slid down her body, trailing kisses along the way.

He found her warm and wet and his control nearly slipped. He touched her and her body arched off of the bed. He moved his way back to her mouth and claimed it, her moans of pleasure muffled against his mouth. He felt the scrape of teeth and tasted blood on his tongue. He was suddenly on his back, she rose above him, wings spread wide she glowed above him like a dark angel of death. Hands slid over delicate flesh as she leaned down. "My turn." She whispered.

It was then he learned never try to seduce a virgin goddess. She may be a virgin, hell he was a virgin, but unlike him, she had thousands upon thousands of years of knowledge to draw upon and she used it. He was going to lose, hell he had already lost, but in this case losing seemed to not be such a bad thing.

He had lost track of the number of times she had bitten him. But his body was covered in bites. She had bitten shoulders and inner thighs, his neck, wrists, everywhere that was not covered in hard shell was bitten. He even cursed his shell because he could not feel her pressed up against most of his body. But she made every bit of flesh he had exposed count. Every time he thought he was about to go over the edge, she gave him a bite which blossomed with pain bringing him back. But the pleasure kept building until finally she granted him release. She slid herself down his length and she cried out his name as he cried out hers. And when the crashing waves of pleasure finally began to subside she bit the tender flesh of his neck, pain washed with pleasure, and as she began to feed he screamed his release again.

He blearily remembered her telling him to drink, warmth running down his throat and then blissful darkness.

Michelangelo found her outside his door sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. She looked at him, eyes still glinting red. He knelt down and picked her up in his arms. "You still need blood, and Donny's not in any condition to help you." He said as he carried her into his room.

"Neither are you." She whispered into his neck.

"Humph. I'm in better condition than Donny who offered you blood right off the bat, even though he was the last one you should have fed from. I'll be fine, just you know, don't kill me."

He lay her gently on his bed. She looked at him in surprise. She opened her mouth but he silenced her by putting a finger over her lips. "I know, you've been with Leo and Raph, and try not to look so surprised you all made enough noise to wake the dead. But you know what the funny thing is, you were right about me. I'm not as jealous as Leo or Raph. I should be. I should be furious that the woman I love was just with my two brothers, and I will admit to feeling a slight twinge of jealousy, but," He shrugged. "I can live with that." He said as he kissed her.

"Tell me you want me." He whispered into her ear.

"I want you." She whispered back.

"If you insist." He said with a smile.

Hands caressed, lips moved, bodies burned for release. She took more of his blood and he screamed in pleasure.

When they had finished he looked down at the woman sleeping in his arms. He was exhausted. She had fed him her blood and he could feel her blood's warmth running through him. He silently slid from his bed. He leaned over and picked her up. As much as he wished he could keep her with him he knew he couldn't let her sleep with him tonight.

He walked with her from his room and bumped open Donatello's door. Donatello didn't look so good. She needed to give him blood, the sooner the better.

Michelangelo sat on the edge of Donatello's bed. He shook the goddess awake. She opened her eyes and looked at him blearily. "Donny still needs your blood." He said to her. He knew her Blood Lust, and now he knew why it was called Blood _Lust, _was gone. Her eyes no longer glinted red. He shook Donatello awake.

Donatello groggily opened his eyes. Goddess slid from his lap and Michelangelo helped Donatello to sit up. She bit her wrist and offered him the blood. Donatello drank her blood and regained a little of his colour. She pulled her wrist away and Donatello shook his head as if trying to clear it. Goddess slid to the edge of the bed looking exhausted. "Lay down, get some sleep and keep her safe bro." Michelangelo said as he lifted Donatello's covers and motioning for her to slide underneath. They both looked at him questioningly.

"Michelangelo?" She asked.

"Stay with Donny, he'll look after you." He leaned down and kissed her. He pushed her into Donatello's side. Donatello wrapped his arms around her. They both struggled to stay awake, but their eyes both closed and they drifted off to sleep. He stood up from the bed and walked to the door. He locked it and stepped out. He knew she would be safe with Donatello. He knew that when the Blood Lust rode her she had been vulnerable to them, and he didn't want either Raphael or Leonardo thinking that just because she had been with them, that it meant that they would get a morning repeat of this night. Besides he couldn't have them thinking that she had chosen one of them, because he knew she hadn't.

Raphael blearily woke up. He looked around and noticed that Goddess was gone. He didn't quite know how to feel about that. He had hoped to wake up next to her and walk out with her, to show his brothers that she was his. He shook himself and got out of bed, got dressed and opened his door. He walked to the kitchen where Michelangelo was wolfing down food like it was going out of style.

"Hey Mikey, how are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm feeling great, hungry, but great. How about you Raph, you're looking different this morning." Michelangelo said as he stuffed another spoon of cereal into his mouth. "Was Goddess gentle with you?" He asked.

Raphael who had just took a drink of water spit it out. "What?" he asked a blush rising up his face.

Michelangelo looked at him. "Why are you blushing I only asked if she was gentle, she wasn't very gentle with Donny, his neck looked pretty bad when she was done with him." He said innocently.

Raphael coughed. "Yeah she was um...gentle. How is Donny?" He asked.

Michelangelo shrugged. "Haven't seen Leo or Donny yet, "He paused. "Or Goddess."

Raphael looked at Leonardo as he entered the kitchen. He felt rage and jealousy burn through him. He knew he had touched her, had tried to take her from him. He took a step towards Leonardo. Leonardo looked at him and blushed turning his head away. "Leo I think you and I have gotta have a little talk...bro." He said through clenched teeth.

Michelangelo looked back and for between Raphael and Leonardo. "What's wrong with you two?" He asked. "Raph's going to burst a vein and Leo's looking guilty. Did I miss something while I was sleeping?" Michelangelo questioned.

"You didn't miss anything Mikey." Leonardo said dangerously.

"Didn't he Leo?" Raphael said angrily. "Or was it not you who decided to seduce Goddess in the shower last night."

Leonardo looked at him in shock. "How did you...?" Then he shook himself and angrily replied. "That's none of your business Raph."

"No? You touched **my** girl Leo. Hell you did a whole lot more than touch her, and you went behind **my** back and...Grrr I can't even think about what you did with her!"

"She's not yours Raph." Leonardo growled.

"She's not yours either Leo." Raphael glowered at his brother his temper finally breaking. "That's it Leo, you and me are going to...

"Have you seen Goddess this morning Leo?" Michelangelo asked cutting Raphael off.

"Not this morning, no." He said. then looked around the room. "Where's Donny?" Leonardo asked, turning his attention from Raphael.

"She might be with Donny." Michelangelo said with a shrug.

Raphael and Leonardo looked at each other. Looked at Donatello's closed door, looked at each other, then headed for Donatello's room. They stood outside the door, rage was still burning through Raphael.

Raphael knocked on the door. "You okay in there Donny?" He asked trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

There was silence on the other side of the door. Raphael turned the knob and opened the door. He looked around Donatello's room which was empty.

"Oh, did I mention that the new shell cycle is missing, they probably went for a ride or something. I just wasn't sure if she was bunking with one of you two during the night." Michelangelo said to them. "But I guess she didn't." He said with a smile, turning away as Raphael and Leonardo blushed.

"I guess she didn't." Leonardo said turning to glare at Raphael. "Is there something you would like to tell me about last night...bro." Leonardo asked him.

Raphael opened his mouth, changed what he was going to say, because what he was going to say wouldn't just degrade Leonardo it would degrade her as well. Instead he said, "She was with me last night too Leo." He finally looked at his brother and saw the hurt cross his face. Raphael's anger drained away at the hurt in Leonardo's eyes. Then Raphael's anger resurfaced. How dare Leonardo look at him with hurt in his eyes. He was the one going behind his back, following his goddess into the shower and seducing her when she was at her most vulnerable.

"You mean you knew what happened between us and you..." He asked, voice shaking in rage. "What do you mean she was _with_ you?

He shook his head. "She came to me after you Leo and I made her scream my name, did she scream yours Leo?" He sneered at him.

The two brothers looked at each other rage poured off of them both.

"Yes, she did." Leonardo said furiously. "You want to go Raph, fine let's go!" He yelled as he walked to their training area, pulling his swords.

"Fine!" Raphael yelled.

Raphael got his sais and they faced off. Anger pushed both of them as weapons struck and were deflected.

Donatello had woken during the night. He vaguely recalled Goddess giving him blood, and possibly her laying next to him, and something about Michelangelo.

When he woke up Goddess was facing him, body entwined with his. He pulled her closer. Possessiveness filled him. She opened her eyes as he brushed a finger down her face.

"Donatello?" She questioned. Clutching her head she slowly sat up. "What happened?" She asked him as she looked down and noticed that she was naked.

"I don't know, you were here when I woke up." He said to her.

"Why can't I remember anything?" She asked him. "I should be able to remember everything."

He looked at her concerned.

"I smell sex and blood." She said slowly. She leaned in and smelled him. Then she smelled herself. "You smell of blood, I smell of both." She closed her eyes as if trying to sense something. She opened her eyes and she seemed to relax slightly. She touched his face snuggling back into him. He pulled her back down into bed with him.

"I returned from Hell, I remember that, and then..." Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember.

"You fed from me and Mikey. Raph helped us to our rooms. I went to sleep but I vaguely remember Mikey bringing you in here, and I think drinking your blood."

She looked at him in confusion. "I remember Leonardo, I was...dancing?" She questioned. "Why do I smell sex, I am not bound to anyone."

"Except Raphael." Donatello said softly.

She stilled. "I...am?" She questioned.

"You told Mikey that you, what was it, 'kissed his soul' or something, you could feel him. You told Michelangelo when you were in the bathroom with him. You don't remember?" He asked.

"No, I remember the bathroom, but I remember being very tired. I was discussing waking up naked on Leonardo with someone. Who was I...Leonardo, in the shower. Why was I in the shower with Leonardo?" She looked confused.

"Maybe because you were in Blood Lust?" Donatello asked pulling her closer. What had she been doing in the shower with Leonardo?

She wrapped herself more tightly against him. "Donatello I think...I think I may have done something last night. I can't remember but..." She looked at him with worry filled eyes.

"Shhh its okay." He kissed her on the forehead. "We'll get things straightened out."

She looked at him gratefully. She tipped her head up and she kissed him deeply. She tasted like honey."Thank you Donatello." She was silent for a moment.

"You're warm now." He said with surprise.

"Yes I am." She said into his chest. "And now you feel cold to me." She said softly. He moved away but she held him tightly. "It's still nice." She said looking at him. "I want to leave Donatello."

He tensed, shock and unhappiness rolled through him. He couldn't blame her though. After everything that had happened to her while she was here. He had hoped she would stay, but he hadn't held out much hope that she would.

"I don't think I want to be here when Leonardo and Raphael wake up."

His mind changed tracks and he asked, "Why?" He asked.

She looked at him and shook her head. "I don't know, just a feeling I have" She said softly. "Can you take me somewhere Donatello? I would like to get away from this city. I miss the forest." She said voice wistful."Can we go watch a sunrise together? I haven't seen a sunrise on Earth for thousands of years." She asked.

Donatello relaxed a little. She wasn't leaving them, she just wanted to get out of the lair.

"Sure." He said as he pulled her closer.

"Thank you Donatello." She said, his name becoming tangible, like velvet as it danced along his skin. She looked into his eyes and smiled. She kissed him again. She broke away and rolled off the bed. He looked down at himself and blushed. She looked back at him over her shoulder. She winked at him and put a finger to her lips. She exited his room quietly.

He fought and failed to gain control of his body. He finally gave up and just got dressed. He put on a hoodie, pants and grabbed some sunglasses for their trip. He met her in his workroom standing by the shell cycle they had built. She was dressed in the outfit that she had worn out the one day she had went shopping. She was even sporting Leonardo's trench coat.

She handed him his duffle bag and they walked the bike out of the lair. They drove for two hours until they reached the Hunter mountains. They parked at the entrance to a hiking trail and began hiking up one of the mountain trails. Donatello marvelled at the fact that although he was skilled in being able to walk around unheard, the goddess almost blended in with the forest. She walked through the forest like she was walking through water, all graceful movements and an almost feline agility. She would stop and sniff the air every once in a while. She helped him negotiate the darkness every once in a while when even his acute eyes couldn't make out anything in the darkness of the vast wilderness. As the neared their destination the sky began to lighten. They broke through the woods into a rocky clearing. There were still within the tree line so close to the edge of a cliff she set out a blanket she had brought and lay it underneath a tall tree. He stood there for a moment not really knowing what she wanted when she pulled him down in front of the tree. He leaned against it and she sat in front of him. It was surprisingly chilly so she brought out another blanket and covered them up. He wrapped his arms around her and they watched the sun rise over the mountains.

"It's beautiful." She whispered. "Thank you for taking me here Donatello."

He hugged her tighter. "Anything for you Goddess." He whispered in her ear.

"I think I could stay here forever, sitting like this, being with you like this." She looked up at him and he kissed her.

"So why don't we." He asked softly when she finally lifted her lips from his.

She smiled and it was a sad smile. "I am a granter of dreams and wishes Donatello, but like a genie, I will never have my own wishes and dreams granted." She snuggled back into him and watched the scenery. She was silent, but it was a comfortable silence.

"Do you remember what happened last night?" He finally asked her.

"Bits and pieces." She said softly. "And if what I remember is true, then Raphael and Leonardo are going to have a huge fight when they wake up."

Donatello tensed. "What happened?"

She sighed. "I think during my Blood Lust I sorta...well, all of your brothers made it to third base last night."

Donatello stilled. "You mean you...?" She nodded. "With all of them?" She winced. "At once?" She shook her head. "One after the other?" She grimaced. "Wait what do you mean all, as in Mikey too!" He said in shock. She nodded. And to think he had slept through it all. Which meant he was the only one she hadn't been with that night.

A twinge of jealously flowed through him, but he was able to stamp it down. "Oh." He managed to say as a riot of emotions ran through him.

"I can't really remember most of it though. It's a blur of everything running together. I wonder if this is what it's like to wake up the next day after getting too drunk? I've never been drunk before." She said as apprehension filled her voice.

Jealousy warred with anger and oddly loss. He knew he had lost, but if he had lost why was she with him, and why didn't she choose either Leonardo or Raphael?

"Do you hate me now Donatello?" She asked him.

Her question shocked him. But he gave the question thought. The thought of her with his brothers made him jealous and angry, but he was not disgusted with her. He knew he should be, but he wasn't. He also knew better than his brothers that it was likely the Blood Lust that rode her, and that it was probably them taking advantage of her, more than the other way around. This thought make him angry.

She looked at him questioningly and he realized he hadn't answered her question. "Of course I don't hate you." He said. "It was the Blood Lust wasn't it?" He asked softly.

She brought her knees up to her chin, wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees. She had pulled away from him slightly. She looked small and vulnerable. "I...it was the Blood Lust, but...I don't think I would have done anything I didn't want to do?" She asked the last as a question. She buried her face in her knees. "No I wanted to, I might not remember, and I might not have gone about it the way it happened, but I have lived for so long, and to live without the touch of another is something I hope none shall ever have to bear." She said softly. "And I am not just talking about a lovers touch Donatello. I am talking about a hug, a comforting hand on the shoulder, a pat on the back. Any hand that has been laid on me in the past few thousand or so years has been directly due to some sort of violence. The only comforting touch I have received has been by the hand of Death, which is not the same as having a living being touching you. Death tries, but he cannot understand complex emotions. He is still learning and trying to understand them." She said hollowly.

Donatello's heart broke. This beautiful woman really had no one, no one but the company of Death. But now she had them, and they wanted her to pick one of them, but she didn't think they would understand that she couldn't pick one of them, because it would mean giving up the rest of them. He pulled her close. "You were the only one I wasn't with last night. Do you resent that?" She asked.

The question surprised him. He thought about it. "I would rather you wanted to be with me without being ridden by your Blood Lust." He whispered. "We want you to choose, but I understand why you won't."

She looked over her shoulder at him and said sadly. "No you don't Donatello." She was silent for a while. He looked at her as he tried to figure out the meaning of her words."You don't know had badly I want you to make love to me here and now Donatello." She said to him. He looked at her in shock. She leaned back against him. He clasped her tighter.

"So why don't you let me?" He whispered.

She smiled at him sadly. "Because I love you too much Donatello." She turned towards him and she kissed him. The kiss was filled with love and lust and so much need that he clutched her closer.

"I love you." Donatello whispered kissing her again. His brain deserted him and he rolled on top of her. Clothes made their way to the ground and he revelled in her touch, the feel of her body against his. They both reached climax together.


	23. Chapter 23

**Alrighty people, new chapter is up and some questions are going to be answered. Enjoy. Please reveiw!**

Chapter 23

They made their way slowly down the mountain, he held her hand, but he felt unsettled. Something at the back of his brain was bumping around trying to tell him something but he just couldn't figure out what.

Two hours later they arrived back at the lair. The sounds of metal hitting metal rang out as the bike roared past the two combatants. Donatello got off the bike and helped her off. She seemed weaker than when they had started out in the morning.

"Shhh Donatello." She said as he helped her off with her helmet. "I'm just tired. I didn't get enough rest last night." She shook her head as if to clear it.

Michelangelo walked up to them. "'Bout time you two got back. Those two have been at it for the last half hour and I'm sick of listening to them." Michelangelo said rolling his eyes.

Donatello walked with Michelangelo out of his workroom. Goddess stayed behind. He looked at Michelangelo. He thought about how he felt now that he knew she had been with all of them. He felt more irritated that Leonardo and Raphael were acting like such idiots. She had also told him that she loved him. He wanted to tell his brothers. Yell at them that she had chosen him, but somehow he knew that it wouldn't be true. He walked into the training room.

Raphael and Leonardo were panting hard. Sweat rolled off each of them, and they were obviously tired and exhausted, but neither was going to give ground. Anger radiated from both of them and the frivolity of it pushed Donatello over the edge.

He grabbed his bo from the wall and charged them both. He attacked both of them with anger and frustration.

"You stupid, hot-headed, selfish, bastards!" He yelled as he managed to disarm each one.

He panted, as his brothers looked at him in shock. It was Raphael who recovered first."What the hell Donny! You stay out of this. This is between me and Leo. You have no idea what's going on!" he shouted.

"Oh I know exactly what's going on, far better than you do." He said angrily. "She doesn't remember what happened last night you idiots."

Leonardo and Raphael looked at him in shock. "Well at least that got your attention. She was being ridden by her Blood Lust. She did what she did so she wouldn't kill all of you, and now you two idiots are fighting over her for what? Do you think that the winner gets her?" He threw down his bo. " She woke up with no memory of what had happened or how she made it into my bed last night. She now remembers bits and pieces of what happened, and I can't even begin to imagine what she is feeling right now. You two want to hash things out with her, she's in my workroom." He turned and strode away.

He could feel his brothers following him. Anger still radiating off of Leonardo and Raphael.

"How did she end up in your bed Donny? Wait, what do you mean all of us?" Raphael asked angrily.

"I took her there." Michelangelo said with a shrug. "Someone had to make sure that Donny got some blood. I was barely able to wake him up he had lost so much, he was a nice grey colour when I got her to give him some blood."

"Wait Mikey, you?..." Raphael asked angrily. Michelangelo just grinned and shrugged.

"So you too Donny?" Raphael asked furious.

"Yeah, me too Raph." Donatello said angrily. He wanted to shout at them, let them know that she had wanted to be with him without being ridden by the Blood Lust, but he kept silent.

She was leaning against his workbench deep in thought.

"Okay, I've had enough!" Raphael roared at her.

She looked at Raphael. Donatello walked over to her, stood behind her and pulled her against him. He glared at his brothers.

She pulled herself from Donatello's embrace. She walked over to Raphael reached out a hand and pulled the neckline of his shirt down. Raphael looked at her in surprise. She touched the spot over his heart. "What have I done to you Raphael?" She asked him. She looked as if she was seeing something that they couldn't. Raphael froze looking down at her with angry brown eyes. "I have bound him in a way, not an actually binding, but I've marked his heart and soul."

"Marked it with what?" Donatello asked.

"Love." She said softly as she backed away from Raphael.

"What do you mean you marked my heart and soul with love?" Raphael growled taking a few steps towards her.

She looked at him. "I love you Raphael." She said to him eyes full of sadness. "That is all it is, your love for me and mine for you, we are now linked and I can feel you through the link."

"Then if you love me, why, why not just be with me, choose me!" He grabbed her shoulders. "Forget about last night, fine, but..." She was shaking her head pulling away from him. She stepped back into Donatello and Michelangelo who grabbed her around the waist, they both hugged her between them.

"We can't make her choose Raph." Donatello said to him looking at both Raphael and Leonardo. Leonardo wore a shattered expression.

She held out her arms. "You need to know." She said softly. The white bladed sword appeared in the center of their circle. Donatello had never really gotten a good look at the sword, but it looked like a Scottish Claymore. It was as tall as she was, but the scabbard that held it wasn't that long, and when she had driven it through Raphael's heart it didn't seem that long either.

It was blade down and hovered about four inches from the ground. They all looked at the sword and suddenly Donatello found himself sitting in a gently worn wing chair that was placed in front of a massive marble fire place. He looked around him and realized he was in a library. But it was bigger than any library he had ever seen. It was two stories high, but looking down the length of it, he literally couldn't see the end. His brothers looked at him. Raphael was in the other wing chair placed in front of the roaring fire, while Michelangelo ended up on a chaise lounge chair, and Leonardo was sitting behind a massive carved desk. Each of them stood slowly taking in their surroundings.

"Where are we?" Michelangelo asked.

"More importantly where is Goddess?" Raphael asked. "And what's with you two!" Raphael yelled. Raphael was still furious but he began looking around. Of Goddess there was no sign. The library was eerily silent, the only noise being the cracking of the fire. "She is in love with me and you two are touching her! You two need to back off and leave _my_ girl alone."

Michelangelo wandered over to a bookcase and idly pull a book from the shelf, or at least he tried to but it wouldn't move. He pulled harder and suddenly the book released. He fell to the floor. "Ouch." He said standing and rubbing his butt. "You don't get it do you Raph and Leo is just as lost as you."

"Then why don't you explain it to me Mikey" Raphael growled.

"It's not for me to explain Raph." Michelangelo said studying the book.

"Mikey maybe we shouldn't touch anything." Leonardo said looking around worriedly.

Michelangelo shrugged. "It's only a book Leo." He opened it.

"No!" His brother shouted.

Donatello looked around. The figure of Death loomed in front of them. At least that is who it had to be. The seven foot tall walking skeleton gave it away. Grey wings arched behind him almost blending in with his faded black robes.

Michelangelo screamed and looked at his hands but the book was gone. They all took a step back. Death was picking up an hour glass from a cabinet. He was inspecting it. They looked around them. They appeared to be in a long room with grey stone walls and black cabinets. Row upon row of black cabinets lined walls and ran down the center of the room.

_You are not supposed to be here_ The voice of Death rang through his head like a cemetery bell.

Michelangelo squeaked and took a few steps backwards.

"Now is that your Rule or Theirs?" Goddess' voice answered from behind him.

Donatello and his brothers quickly turned and saw Goddess standing in the doorway. She was leaning against the door frame, arms and legs crossed. She was wearing her clothes, weapons and armour.

Death didn't answer but gently put the hour glass back. "Is that one mine?" She asked him

Death gently closed the cabinet door. _No_

She shrugged and pushed herself off of the door frame. "Are we going to do this or not? You are on my time now, no more working, that's why you have your little underlings." She said the last with a trace of disgust.

"Leo what's going on? They are acting like they can't see us." Michelangelo said as he got out of the way of Death who followed Goddess from the room.

"We're in one of Goddess' memories." Raphael said. "We must have landed in her Memory Room." Michelangelo looked at him in confusion. so Raphael explained to them what he knew about Memory Rooms and Soul rooms. "That book you opened obviously contained this memory."

"So what do we do now?" Michelangelo asked.

"Watch the memory to the end I guess." Raphael said with a shrug.

They walked from the room and gathered behind Goddess who was sitting in front of a chess board, Death sat directly across from her. She was lounging in the chair, one leg thrown over the arm her arm thrown over the back.

"White or black?" She asked.

_Black_ Death answered.

She rolled her eyes. "Why do you always like playing black, I mean I get it, you're Death, but not everything has to be black." She looked around the room they were in. It looked like an English cottage with low wooden beams and grey stone walls, but everything was black. The beams, the chairs, the fireplace, the rugs, even the fire was black. "And don't say that the walls are grey because grey is really just a really light black. You could try some purple if still wanted to continue the whole gothic thing."

_Purple?_ _But why?_

"Because. Just because you are Death does not mean you have to be confined to the stereotypical mould of what you are supposed to be. Anyway we have had this conversation so many times it is starting to bore me."

_But I like the lives that reside within the black pieces._ Death said to her.

She looked at him in shock and sat up straight. She really looked at him then and relaxed into her former negligent pose. "Very funny." She said with a smirk.

_You say it was funny, but you do not laugh, I am trying to understand how you can say it is funny but not laugh._

She looked at the chess board and moved a pawn forward. "There are different kinds of humour. Some, is laugh out loud funny, some is more...subtle. Yours would be more a practical joke, where it is more funny to the person doing the humour than the person it is enacted upon. So you should find it funny that I thought you were serious about there being souls trapped in the chess pieces"

Death moved a pawn forward. Neither really seemed interested in the game, it was more like a pretence, or a habit. She moved a knight forward.

_Haha_

She smiled at him and laughed out loud. Her joy and happiness rang out and echoed through the room.

She gave Death that smile that was like the sun breaking through the clouds on a gloomy day. Death picked up another pawn but paused as he watched her.

_I do not understand how that is funny_

"You will, one day, you will." She beamed at him. "But that's is one reason I like you. I like the fact that you don't treat mortal lives like playthings." She said seriously.

Apparently Death was used to her whiplash change in conversation as well as emotions.

_You like me? _Death asked finally placing the piece on the board.

She seemed surprised by the question. "Of course I like you, I wouldn't be here if I didn't. Just because I am stuck in your Domain for four months out of the year doesn't mean that I have to hang out with you."

_You are in the company of the other gods, and you do not like them_

"I _have _to be in the company of the other gods. For four months of the year I am stuck with them. I'm the one who has to settle the disputes over who stole whose worshippers, and who's cows grazed on who's sacred land. I have to settle disputes over cows!" She drew her clawed hands down her face. "I don't _like_ hanging out with them. They just think that mortals are playthings only existing for their amusement. I don't like it. When I am done my duty with them I lock up the Castle and threaten that any god who steps foot into it will be eaten." Death looked at her with black fathomless eye sockets.

"Hey the Castle only ate two gods. It was their own fault really." She looked at him again. "Well it keeps the other gods away, and I managed to get them before the Castle completely digested them, they recovered...eventually."

_You are the only one that has ever visited. _Death said watching her move her knight again.

"That's because you never had a house to visit, now you do."

_You suggested the house, but I still don't understand it. I do not sleep, I do not eat._

_ "_I live in a Castle that devours people. I don't eat or sleep either. It is a place to _be_. A place where you can exist and not be what you were made to be, but be whatever you want to be. " She said to him.

_I AM Death_

"Yes but you can talk, think, react, it is not all that you are. You are not your Reapers."

_You...dislike, my Reapers, why?_

_ "_They're creepy." She said sitting up and crossing her arms. Death looked at her silently, chess game forgotten. "They are nothing but shadows. They do not think, they cannot act, they just retrieve souls."

_That is their role_

"Yes but, a shadow is not comforting."

_I am comforting? _

"To me you were." She said softly. "To a dead soul, yes. I mean I suppose they would be upset that they were dead, but they know who you are. Imagine you just died and in the few moments when you retain your form and memories of your life, this shadow passes by and basically eats you. I would find that terrifying."

_But they are dead, they will have no memory of being Collected by a Reaper_.

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter, that's like saying that to someone who was murdered, it is okay that they were murdered because once they revert back to their essence they will not remember it. The fact remains that they were terrified when they died. It just seems redundant to be terrified when you die and then terrified by the shadow that eats you."

Death looked at her. _You were not terrified_

"A Reaper didn't collect me either."

_You were special._

She laughed again. "Were? I still am." She said with a flirtatious smile.

"Is it just me or is she flirting with Death." Michelangelo whispered to Leonardo.

"Shut up Mikey." Leonardo whispered back.

_Yes _Was all Death said as he took her hand and lifted it from the table surface.


	24. Chapter 24

Alrighty people, we are getting close to the end! The Mystery of the goddess is revealed. Warning a little on the gory side near the end... Please enjoy and please reveiw!

* * *

Chapter 24

The memory broke and they ended up back in her Memory Room. Michelangelo still had the book in his hands. He snapped it closed and put it back into place as quickly as he could.

"It is very rude to snoop through someone's memories." A soft voice said behind him. He turned around quickly and saw Goddess sitting on the back of the wing chair. She was clothed as she had been in the memory. It seemed strange to Donatello that she was always dressed as if she was ready for battle. Even they were without their weapons most of the time. And he was amazed that she never seemed to cut herself on those bladed gauntlets.

"It is alright, if I had not wanted you to see the memory you wouldn't have been able to pull it from the shelf." She leapt off the chair. "Welcome to my Memory Room. As you saw specific memories are stored within each book."

They looked around. "Now I have many memories, obviously, but not every experience I have ever had is in these books, except after I became a goddess. When I was mortal only specific and important memories were stored."

They looked down the rows upon rows of books. Some looked fresh and new, others seemed to be falling apart. Donatello found himself wandering away from the fire place, fascinated by the rows upon rows of books. The further away from the fireplace Donatello went, the more and more the books looked as if they were about to disintegrate if you so much as looked at them, let alone touched them. There also seemed to be black books, many of them. All the books were different sizes and colours, but the black books all seemed to be the same small size. He passed by a door and turned to look at it. There was no door when he looked at it straight on, but when he looked at it straight ahead he could see it just out of the corner of his eye.

"Those are the Memory Rooms of the goddesses. One on each side. The black books mark each mortal death I suffered." Goddess said. He jumped. "Come back to the fireplace Donatello, there are questions that must be answered."

He looked back at the bookcases and realized that there were almost if not more black books as any other colour of book. He walked back with her silently. They gathered around a round table that was engraved with a map of the world, but as Donatello looked closer he realized it was not their world but another.

"My home." She said, brushing the surface with a clawed hand.

She curled up in one of the wing chairs. Each took a seat in a wing chair that had appeared around the table. "My soul as you have heard is indeed mortal. You heard some of the story from when Gabriel and I talked. My last mortal life ended 4621 years ago. I was shot, an arrow through the heart, by my best friend Charity Hamilton, and another by the traitor Isulet. You wanted to know what happened, wanted to know why I never chose a Consort, and if I was mortal how am I a goddess, and why I can't choose between you, well I shall show you." Suddenly Donatello didn't want to know. Obviously her death had been tragic, and for some reason those questions seemed insignificant and irrelevant. A black book appeared on the table in front of them. Dread slid down his spine. It opened.

* * *

Battle raged around them. A mud slick field stretched out in front of them covered in as much mud, as gore, blood, and corpses.

Goddess stood panting, bloodied sword in hand. It was _Bloody Rage_. She looked different. She had human ears, and although her skin was as pale, it had less of an opalescent quality to it. All of her scars seemed angry and new. Her left eye was covered with a black eye patch. She was terrified. She looked like the twenty something girl that she had looked like when they had first set eyes on her. There was an innocence about her. An absence of the cynicism, hardness, and shear knowledge that she now possessed.

She was clutching at her chest as if there was something wrong. "I will not let you win." She said in a defiant yet terrified whisper. "I will not let your darkness consume me." She managed to choke out. She had tears in her eye. A red darkness began to circle and wrap itself around her. She clenched her teeth with determination as if she were fighting something other than the monsters around her.

Above them dragons circled in the sky roaring in rage and spewing fire. Creatures out of the imagination of fantasy fought with what looked like Roman soldiers and monsters.

The goddess slew one of the monsters that had charged her and as she pulled out her sword she spun. Two arrows hit her chest simultaneously. Blood blossomed through white linen. She looked in shock at her chest and fell to her knees.

"No!" Raphael screamed, as he knelt in front of the figure. His arms passed right through her.

"Katherine!" A man screamed. He ran up to her. He was shockingly beautiful, with pale skin and hair the colour of a roaring fire. He gathered her up into his arms and roared his grief. Bloody tears coursed down his cheeks and he looked at the ones who had shot the arrows. "Charity you traitor, how could you!" he screamed.

The arrows had been shot by two women, one looked like a beautiful angel with white feathered wings and pale golden hair. The other was startlingly beautiful, but had skin the colour of an aqua-green sea. A mass of snakes writhed and moved where her hair should have been. The angel fell to the ground and dissolved into tears.

"Katherine!" Another man yelled falling down beside her. He was tanned, and had the build of a football player. He looked at her, like he was at a loss at what to do. Somehow Katherine was still alive. Blood dripped down her chin as she frantically searched for someone. "Seymous!" She screamed. Tears running down her face. A man stumbled from the fray of battle. She reached out to him as he fell to his knees clutching his chest. He wasn't human, he was an Elf. He was striking with long white hair, pale skin and black eyes.

"Katherine!"He screamed reaching out to her as he collapsed. They watched as the light went out of his eyes.

She turned her tear stained eye to the man that held her. "Daemon." She managed to choke out through the blood that filled her mouth. You could see the love in her eye as she looked at him. "Katherine, Katherine, no, no." He sobbed.

"Hey weren't those the names of her guardians?" Michelangelo whispered. No one answered.

Her eyes shifted to something over his shoulder. With the last of her strength she lifted her arm, like she was reaching for something, or someone. Death appeared behind the vampire and the man. They didn't notice or could not see him. Her eye had begun to cloud.

"Turn her." The dark haired man said. Daemon looked at him in shock. "Do you want to lose her, turn her damn it!" He screamed. Damon pulled back and bit her hard in the neck. She gasped. He drank as she screamed in agony. Pulling back he ripped his arm open with his teeth and poured the blood down her throat.

Her eye went blank and the stillness of death overtook her. Although battle raged around them somehow within the circle of grief they had formed, the silence was deafening.

She gasped and sat up. Death stepped away and vanished. She looked at Daemon in horror. "You swore to me Daemon. You swore that you wouldn't turn me, that if I died you wouldn't bring me back. Now...now...they're getting closer. You've bound my immortal soul to my body!" She screamed in despair. She tore herself from his grasp and stumbled a few steps away. The battle still raged on around them until suddenly a blazing light engulfed her. A magic circle formed around her. Red and blue energy crackled through the air. She rose in the air, her hair turned white with streaks of black, her eye turned white and her clothes and wings disappeared. New wings emerged, but they weren't really wings, more the idea of wings. Wisps of blue painted the air giving the impression of feathered wings, while below was a second set of wings that looked to have been painted in the splattering of blood.

The entire battlefield stopped and watched as the wings closed, energy whipped around her, and when she emerged she looked as she did now. The only thing that had changed about her were the kitty-cat ears, and her eyes. She had regained her eye, and although they were the same shade of green, there was something about them, a blankness. It was as if they had been stripped of everything that had made her...her.

"I am the Goddess of Magic, Andora" She said in a voice that held no emotion, but instead held a boom of thunder and a crackle of power. A staff appeared in her hand. "It is enough." She said and the staff struck the ground. The monsters disappeared, as well as most of the Romans.

A mark appeared on the forehead of the vampire Daemon. "Katherine?" He said to her.

The dark haired man reached out and touched her arm. "Katherine."

She looked at him. "I know not that name." She turned away from him. He looked at her back stricken.

"What have I done?" He whispered to himself.

She walked over to the Elf Seymous and grabbed hold of his body by the back of the armour. She looked at the women who had killed her, but no emotion crossed her face. She didn't look like she even recognized them. She turned and disappeared, the vampire and Elf disappearing with her.

* * *

Leonardo looked around as they were again in Goddess' Memory Room. Goddess was still sitting there curled up, but she looked sad as if the memory were still painful, but time had dulled it to be bearable. Michelangelo was kneeling in front of her, misery etched into his face.

She looked at him and touched his face. "It was a long time ago Michelangelo. The memory still hurts but it is an old pain." He shook his head tears swimming in his eyes. He grabbed her picked her up, sat back down on the chair and held her tightly against him. She looked surprised but didn't object.

"So you really are a goddess." Raphael said. "You didn't lie to us." Raphael said to her. "You were a Fool." He said softly.

She tipped her head to the side. "I can't lie Raphael, I have already told you this. And yes I was. I used a Fool's Chance, I survived, but the cost." She shook her head. "I managed to seal the goddesses within my mind, but to do so I sundered my already broken soul. I knew what I was, but I did not know who I was. I was the goddess of magic, and the name Andora rang for me.

Of Katherine, I had no memory of her. Seymous had died because he loved her. Elves do not in general fall in love, not true love. To fall in love as an Elf is seen as much as a blessing as a curse. Once an Elf falls in love their heart is bound to their loves'. Katherine's heart stopped, so too did his. She didn't die immediately, she was inhuman enough to survive the minute after her heart stopped long enough for Daemon to turn her into a vampire. Daemon and Seymous became my Guardians.

I brought Seymous back from the dead, but he had no memories of Katherine. To him he had always been my Guardian, his life before his death did not exist. Daemon however never forgave himself for what happened. It took around 600 years but I began to remember bits and pieces. But it was a jumbled mess. I could not access either my Soul Room , or Memory Room, and because I was bound to Daemon his memories began to jumble with my own. I was very confused, I went to Earth and I ran into Lucifer, but that is another story entirely."

"It took nearly 1000 years but I finally remembered who I had been. By then Daemon was destroyed. He performed his duties as Guardian, but he never forgave himself for nearly destroying me. My soul was still sundered and even though I remembered Katherine, I was not her, I was different. The woman he had loved died on the battlefield that day, and even though I still loved him it wasn't the same kind of love. Katherine died that day." She shook her head. "I am no more Katherine, than I am Kaethryn. Katherine is dead, but my soul has begun to ring with Katherine's." She said sadly.

They all looked at each other in confusion. "What do you mean your soul has begun to ring with Katherine's."Donatello asked.

She smiled sadly. "A Circle of Fate has begun to wrap itself around to its beginning. I know this does not make sense to you, and perhaps it never will, but there are more questions to be answered." She said avoiding the question.

Michelangelo squeezed her harder. She shrugged. "The story of my soul and how the goddesses were even bound to it is long, and so I will try to make a ridiculously long story short."

"The two goddesses, one light one dark, fought, it was all they did. When they nearly destroyed the world of T'lae-ran they went in search of new mortal bodies and a pure soul. If they could consume a pure soul then one would finally be strong enough to destroy the other. And so they found me. They were weakened from their battle, and I do not know if they even knew they had chosen the same soul, but they slept. My soul was brand new then, but the gods knew that the goddesses were powerful and dangerous, and so I was killed. But the goddesses did not dissipate from my soul, instead incarnation after incarnation they stayed with me. But the more they killed me, the purer and stronger my soul became. By then they could not stop killing me. They realized that the goddesses needed my body to mature, I could not be a child and so they had time to kill me. When the task of my 'care' fell to the Kingdom of Heaven, Michael was given the task of being my executioner. But a strange thing had begun happening, my soul had begun to hide itself. Michael had to search for me. Sometimes it took him over a decade to find me. The goddesses tried and almost rose when I was Kaethryn. I made it to the ripe old age of fourteen before Michael killed me. As Katherine I lived until I was twenty-one, but I didn't die, not this time, I was ripped from this world along with my two friends and taken to T'lae-ran, where I was transformed into what you saw. I was one half of a pair of priestesses who were to bring the goddesses back to their dying world. Katherine's story is a long one and this is not the time for it."

Michelangelo still clutching her tightly asked. "Why did she kill you?" She looked at him in shock, as if that was not the question she thought he would ask. Donatello stood and walked over to her. He sat down at her feet leaning his head against her leg. Donatello looked as if he were suffering and needed to touch her, to make sure that she was okay.

"She killed me because she loved me." She whispered. "She believed she was saving the world from a great darkness. One death to save millions. I suppose in the end she did. The goddesses did not rise to destroy the world. If I had died my soul would have finally been free of them, but they may have used my body to rip the world asunder, then again maybe they would just have ended up back in the realm of the gods. It is hard to say. Instead my soul was bound within my body. I was easy pickings for the goddesses, except I fought back and managed to find the one way to not only seal them, but to make it so that the goddesses could not use my soul. By sundering my soul the way I did, the goddesses cannot use it. It is in three pieces so they have remained silent. If ever my soul were to be whole, it is possible they would rise again to try to claim it."

She paused a moment in thought the fire crackling in the grate the only sound in the room. "I have only ever truly loved a few times in my many lives." She began quietly. Michelangelo clutched her tighter, Donatello rested his head on her leg. She looked down at Donatello with love in her eyes and she placed a hand on his shoulder. That was when Leonardo realized that Michelangelo and Donatello already knew where they stood in her heart. She loved them. She looked at Leonardo and Raphael. Leonardo looked at Raphael and he looked as if his heart had shattered, and he was pretty sure that he wore the same expression on his face. "I was 14 years old when I loved Cellach and Geldric, or as we know them as Lucifer and Gabriel."

"Wait you were 14?" Michelangelo asked in surprise.

"Yes." She said looking up at him.

"How old were they?" He asked.

She smiled and laughed. "As humans or as angel?" She asked then smiled. "As humans they were 26."

"Ewww." Michelangelo scrunched up his face. "I think there are laws against that sort of thing." Michelangelo said in disgust.

She laughed. "Yes but during that time, it was normal and expected. Besides as angels they would have been...probably verging on several thousand years old." She said with a shrug. "I was 21 when I fell in love with Seymous who was 236 and Daemon who was 153." She chuckled to herself. "I must really have had a thing for older men." She shook her head and lost her smile. "You are all so young." She said softly but shook her head. "Not important, I am getting distracted."

She looked at them seriously. "Gabriel was right, darkness and light, light and darkness. I had always wondered if maybe I could love only one person if I was without the influence of the goddesses. I always wondered if the men I had loved, were in my heart because the goddesses wanted them to be, or if I had actually chosen them. But I know now, having been cut off from them, that it was never them, it was me. I apparently have the inability to love only one person, or if you look at it from the other way, I have the ability to love more than one person at a time. Loving two men at once is bad enough." She said sadly. "There is always jealousy and fighting, and loving brothers is even worse because of the rivalry that already exists." She closed her eyes. "I didn't mean to fall in love. It was not my intention. I have lived for almost 5000 years without any touching my heart, until I met you." She whispered looking at Raphael and Leonardo. "Two brothers is bad enough, but four!" She shook her head. "There are two reasons I will never choose. I cannot choose because I will not take one without the others. I never have and I never will. My heart belongs to all of you, and I know better than to expect you to be able to share. I would never ask you to share." She whispered.

"What so that's it. You love all of us so you choose none of us!" Leonardo shouted at her.

She looked at him sadly. "Leonardo..." She said to him.

"No, don't you dare Leonardo me." He strode over to her and pulled her up from Michelangelo's grasp. "I refuse to let you go. Do you hear me. I won't. We'll figure it out, somehow we'll make it work because I love you too much to just let you go!" He shouted.

A tear rolled down her cheek. "You'll have to Leonardo." She whispered so softly Leonardo could barely make out the words. She laid her head on his chest and he clutched her tightly. A slow creeping dread began to walk down Leonardo's back. He felt a riot of emotions burn and wash through him. She loved them all. Michelangelo and Donatello didn't seem too surprised which meant that either they already knew or suspected her true feelings. But Leonardo tried to come to grips with the realization that the woman he loved, loved all of his brothers as well. That she would never choose him and only him. He burned with jealousy just watching Michelangelo and Donatello touch her. She looked from him to Raphael as if sensing his jealous anger. She pulled away from Leonardo and took a step towards Raphael.

"Raphael told you about Soul Rooms. Every Soul Room is different, and manifests itself in a different way. No two Soul Rooms are alike. So my Soul Room is different than Raphael's."

"You were in Raphael's Soul Room?" Leonardo asked trying to turn his thoughts from his anger.

"I was able to access Raphael's Soul Room, and I will allow you access to mine because it is important for you to understand." She said as she turned. Raphael grabbed her arm and stopped her. She looked at Raphael questioningly "I want to see." He whispered. "I was tormented for so long, I want to see what you saw."

A red bound book appeared on the table. She looked at it and it opened. This time they were not transported into the memory, more it was like looking at a 3D image that projected itself from the book. A darkened dirty alley appeared. Raphael was bound with rope and suspended spread eagle between the two walls of the alley. Leonardo looked at the image in horror. One sai protruded from his heart the other was protruding from his right wrist. All of this was horrible on its own, but it was the sight of the Syna coiled around his brother's body choking the life out of him. Leonardo looked at his brother in horror. Raphael had paled. Goddess looked at Raphael with concern. "You defeated the Syna all by yourself. I cannot slay demons for you within your own mind Raphael."

"My Soul Room is a dark, dirty New York alley." He said voice emotionless. The book closed.

"Yes." Was all she said.

"It is gritty and dark and real, but..." he seemed a loss for words.

She looked at him. "You are no longer bound by your fear. Your sais no longer pierce you in failure, and the Syna no longer chokes your soul. Even during the darkest night, the sun eventually does rise again." She said with a smile.

She turned and led them to a door that had not been there a moment ago. She held out a hand to Raphael. He looked at it in surprise. He took it, then looked down at her. He brought her close to him and embraced her. "I am sorry I am so selfish." He said to her.

She looked at him a sad smile played around her lips. He let go of her but kept hold of her hand as if he couldn't bring himself to let go, even though he wanted to. She offered the other hand to Leonardo. He looked at it and looked at her. His emotions were rioting within him. Horror, sadness, anger, bitterness all warred within him as the goddess' story had unfolded in front of them. She had suffered so much and they had been bickering over her like a new toy that each one had wanted. They never knew that underneath all of the smiles and laughter there could be such pain. That someone could suffer so much and still be able to laugh, to smile, and give joy to others. But could he ever accept what she offered?

She looked at him worried. "Maybe I shouldn't show you." She whispered. She stepped back from the door. "I want you to understand why..." She broke off as the walls around them began to shake. She looked around and closed her eyes. The shaking stopped.

"What was that?" Michelangelo asked.

She looked at the door, a worried look quickly passed over her face. She tentatively reached out and opened the door. "If you wish to follow, you can, if you wish to stay here, I will understand. What I am about to show you..." She shook her head. She stepped through the door and they all followed. If she could watch the memory of her own death, then they could brave whatever was through that door.

On the other side of the door was darkness. There was a faint glow that radiated around the goddess. It looked as if they were walking through the passageway of a castle of some sort. They stopped outside an arched set of double doors. She pushed them open and they entered a dimly lit circular room. There was a wall of crystal in front of them. The left side ran with purples and blacks and gradually lightened, running instead with blues and lighter purples. A large wolf-tiger padded out from behind the crystal. As she walked she slowly changed shape until a naked woman stood beside Goddess. Her hair was a reddish brown that cascaded down her back in soft waves. Her complexion was more peaches and cream than the stark paleness of the goddess. "Hello Ryn." She said to her.

The other woman tipped her head to the side. "We are worried." She said. Goddess looked at her, a solemn look shared between the two women. "We understand." The woman said. She walked up to Goddess and put her arm around her waist. The two stood side by side. Ryn leaned her head against Goddess' shoulder.

They both looked at the brothers. It was then that Leonardo realized that the woman looked exactly like Goddess. If the goddess were a mortal human she would look like her. This is what she must have looked like mortal. Leonardo thought to himself.

He looked at his brothers in shock as they too slowly came to the realization. "Is she?"Leonardo asked.

Ryn tipped her head to the side. "We were just a Beast, but now we are more."

"When I was mortal I was infected by both a weretiger and werewolf. I fed both Beasts that were dying within me. I was too inhuman for the infection to take hold and I unknowingly took a piece of my soul and fed it to the Beasts. The two became one. Don't ask why I did this or about the cat and coyote, it is a tale too long to tell."

Ryn let go of Goddess and returned to her animal form. Sitting down on the floor she watched as Goddess walked around the crystal. As Leonardo neared the crystal he stepped in something warm and wet. He looked down at his foot and saw blood. He looked wildly around the room. He couldn't see past the crystal but he could just make out blood spatter on the roof. His brothers were also beginning to step in pools of blood. Leonardo's trepidation began to grow. There had been no blood in Raphael's soul room. Even with the sais plunged though his body, Raphael's soul had not bled.

The crystal formed a semi-circle around the room. In the very center of blood spattered room was Katherine's soul. Her soul looked like Ryn, but was clothed as she had been in her memory room, or at least what was left of her clothing. He had found the state of his brother's soul terrible, hers was horrifying.

Large silver hooks pierced and bound her flesh with silver chains to the floor. Blood ran freely from the eight hooks that bound her flesh. One hook went into each shoulder from the front. One hook bound each of her wrists from the back. And there were two hooks in each thigh binding her to the floor. The hooked chains were bad enough, but her soul itself was so badly damaged it hurt to look at. Her soul was a mass of blood and gore. Her face was battered and bloody, her chest had been ripped open, heart missing. Claw marks slashed through her torso, and the lower part of her body caught within the crystal was bloody.

His gaze moved from her soul to the crystal behind her. Cracks ran through the crystal, obscuring and distorting the view of the occupants sealed within. Here were the two goddesses she had talked about. On the left suspended within the darkened crystal was a woman who looked like an angel. Her blue eyes were partially closed, and she was breathtakingly beautiful. She wore silver and blue armour, with white feathered wings arching out behind her. Her white hair flowed around her like a delicate cloud. A lion-like tail encircled one of her legs.

His gaze shifted to the other goddess trapped within the light crystal. This one was the dark goddess. Raven black hair floated around a pale face, amber eyes half closed stared at nothing. Ram like horns curled through her hair, while dragon wings arched behind her. A webbed dragon like tail curled out behind her. Her legs were also like those of a dragon, and her hands resembled Katherine's gauntlets but made of flesh instead of leather and metal. The goddesses however had not been passive in being sealed within Katherine's mind. Both having been sealed made one last effort of claim her soul. The bottom half of Katherine's soul was trapped within the crystal. Each had tried to pull her into the crystal with them. Her soul was suspended between the two goddesses. Katherine's eyes were open but unseeing. The dark goddess' claws cut through the flesh of the arm she held, while the lighter goddess' grip was bruising the flesh beneath.

His gaze moved to a second set of black chains that bound Katherine's soul. The chains wrapped around the entirety of her body that was not bound in crystal and ended coiled around her throat. They gave off a malicious red glow and looked to be getting tighter, crushing her soul and choking the life from her.

"Meet Diemortia, goddess of dark magic and her counterpart Dielucere goddess of light magic. The black chains, are the demon's Binding." She touched the crystal. "I made a promise to myself that I could not die unless they stopped fighting." She whispered, almost as if she were talking more to herself than to them. She looked at her soul, then ran a clawed hand over a cracks in the crystal.

Leonardo walked over to where the goddess was standing within a pool of blood staring at her soul. As he watched the black chains encircling her soul tightened. Her eyes went blank and she fell.


	25. Chapter 25

Well like I said, almost done maybe two chapters left I think. Enjoy, please read and review!

Chapter 25

Raphael opened his eyes and watched the sword in front of him flicker and fall to the ground. Goddess' eyes opened. She got up and picked up the sword. She looked at it deep in thought. She turned to face them sadness was held within the blue of her eyes. Her sadness overwhelmed him and he felt as if the sun had gone behind a cloud taking away all of the happiness and warmth. He wanted to comfort her, to take away all of the painful memories she held within her, but he couldn't and that hurt almost worse than anything."And now you know, at least some of my story. The only ones who know who I really am are Death, Gabriel...perhaps Lucifer, and now yourselves." A riot of emotions rolled through him. Her soul was so damaged, so battered and broken. It sickened him to know that his soul was now healed and hers...hers was so much worse than his, and there was no healing her soul. If he had suffered nightmares just from what his soul suffered, how hadn't she gone insane? How hadn't her mind broken with everything that had happened to her? And they only knew a fraction of what happened to her. He wanted to go over and take her in his arms and never let go, but he didn't feel like he deserved to even stand in the same room with her, let alone even touch her. And now that he knew her heart belonged to all of them, he didn't know what to feel. He wanted to scream and shout and throw things, but he couldn't. He knew he couldn't share. He couldn't accept what she offered, and knowing this broke his heart.

Donatello stood, face pale, but eyes determined. "Where is your heart Katherine...Goddess?" He asked her.

She looked at him questioningly. "Don't. Don't even try to evade or pretend like you don't know what I am talking about. Where is your heart?"

"Donatello..." She warned.

"The heart of your soul is in that sword isn't it." He demanded.

She paused. "No." She said finally.

For a moment Donatello was stunned. As if he thought he had figured something out, but found out he hadn't.

"We don't have much time left before Hell comes knocking on your door looking for me. The sigils that were carved into my skin were the physical manifestation of the Binding. I could see the Binding but I could not see the mark of the demon who created it. By Falling the mark of the demon presented itself. Azazel is the traitor and Gabriel will tell Lucifer that it is one of his top Generals. This information should help, if not altogether prevent the Apocalypse. And now that Azazel's deceit has been revealed Hell will come looking for me sooner."

"So what do we do?" Leonardo asked.

"You need to know how to fight with my weapons. I left my weapons here when Ryn took over my body because I needed them to be safe. I never expected you would actually try to use them, although I suppose seeing Ryn in the lair was a bit of a surprise." She paused in thought. She walked over to where she had placed her weapons before she Fell. "I need you to use my weapons to fight off the demons that are going to come." She threw him the empty scabbard that housed her white blade. "It's not really a scabbard. It just looks like one. I pull my sword from it, it is where it is stored, but in actuality it is a bow. Hold it out and say Ona."

Raphael looked at the scabbard in shock. "Ona" He said. The scabbard elongated and changed shape. He held a black re-curve bow in his hands.

"This bow is unlike the swords. The swords are Named, they are in themselves magic which is why I can still use them. This bow however is a magical item that draws magic from the user. Therefore I can't use it. Now, you and your brothers will all be able to use this bow, but remember, with magic there is always a price. Draw the bow and shoot." Raphael looked at the bow in his hands. There was no string and no arrow. "Draw as if there was a string. Shoot at the wall."

Raphael had never used a bow in his life. She walked behind him. She held the line of his body straight, turned him towards the wall. She lined up her arm with his. "Draw with two fingers, pretend there is an arrow."

He pulled and there was a string beneath his fingers, it also had a very heavy draw. It took an amazing amount of strength for him to pull the string back. He could see the faint outline of a blue arrow. He sighted it and let the string go. Pain shot through his left arm which was holding the bow. The arrow, now red, struck the wall where he had aimed. There was a scorch mark on the wall where it had hit. Raphael looked at his bloody arm. There was a cut running on the inside of his forearm from elbow to wrist.

"It will always strike where you wish, unlimited arrows, and will do minimal damage to inanimate objects. However upon demons, it will destroy their mortal bodies sending them back to Hell." She bit her hand and smeared blood across his arm where the slash immediately healed. "The price is taken in blood, so even though you have unlimited arrows eventually your arm will be shredded to ribbons. Use it sparingly, pass it between yourselves." She turned from him then.

She let go of her sword and it floated above the ground. She pulled _Bloody Rage_ and _Capricious Death_ from their scabbards. She handed _Bloody rage_ to Leonardo and _Capricious Death_ to Michelangelo. Both swords blazed to life in their hands. A look of pure rage passed over Leonardo's face. Michelangelo's expression shifted, from fear and worry, to determination, and a mercilessness that Raphael had never seen on Michelangelo's face.

Leonardo burned with rage. He began panting hard. "Fight it Leonardo. If you let the rage consume you, you will kill either Michelangelo or Raphael, or both. Harness that rage, use it to kill those who threaten your family, protect them." Leonardo struggled. He struggled against the rage that was consuming him. He fell to his knees and screamed. He slammed the sword into the floor where it penetrated into the stone. He shakily stood. Hands still on the grip of the sword. An angry malicious aura emanated from the sword, the room began to grow cold. "Very good Leonardo. Pull the sword from the floor, get comfortable with it."

"This sword." Leonardo managed to choke out. "It rips and claws at your mind, it screams and rages."

"Yes it does, but you can control it. I know you can Leonardo."

"How do you even? I have seen you with this sword and it doesn't even bother you?" Leonardo said pulling the sword from the floor.

She looked at Leonardo with amber eyes as an all consuming rage poured forth. Within her eyes was a bottomless never-ending fury that was as ruthless as it was pitiless. Leonardo took a step back from her. Raphael had been angry, he was known for his temper, but he had never seen an anger, a fury, as ferocious and as overwhelming as he now did. "I have more anger within me than even the sword can bear. I control the sword, it can never give me any more rage than I already possess." She blinked and her eyes were green, as if nothing had happened.

Raphael felt like he could breathe again. To have that sort of control, to turn your emotions on and off like a switch, it was frightening to realize what boiled beneath the surface of the calm outward appearance of the lovely Goddess.

She turned then and looked at Michelangelo. Who had walked up behind her. "You want Leonardo's death, I can see it in your eyes. He is your brother, your enemy are the demons who will destroy your family if you don't kill them." She repeated the same thing to Michelangelo as she had said to Leonardo.

"He took something I wanted." Michelangelo said to her. Michelangelo's cold gaze shifted to her. He reached out and grabbed her around the waist. "I can see it. I can see your life force. It is flickering like a candle flame, sputtering as it fights to stay lit." He raised the sword to her throat. "It would be so easy to end your struggle."

Raphael froze. That wasn't Michelangelo who spoke. The sword pressed into her neck. She looked at Michelangelo steadily. "Yes it would." Was all she said.

He brought her closer and he kissed her, sword against her throat, a trickle of blood made its way down her neck. He pulled away and looked down at her. "Kiss you or kill you." He whispered. "I can hear the sword whispering in my head. Horrible things. "Michelangelo said frightened.

"You have already beaten it Michelangelo. I would be dead if you hadn't. I told you both do not let the power consume you, use the power."

"I was so close, I almost..." He said in horror.

"But you didn't." She said to him softly.

She then turned to Donatello who had been silent since they had returned from her soul room. "Donatello, you are the only one who can draw a protective circle. I know you have been studying the symbols. I also know that Leonardo could draw one if it is necessary. Protect them." She said touching his face.

She walked over to Leonardo and took _Bloody Rage_, Michelangelo gave her _Capricious Death_. "Give the bow to Leonardo, you all must know the feel of the bow." Raphael gave the bow to Leonardo but did not take the out held sword. She tipped her head then looked at Donatello. She held out _Capricious Death_. Donatello reluctantly took it.

Coldness seeped into Donatello's eyes. His eyes found Raphael. "The sword calls for his death." Donatello said emotionlessly pointing to Raphael. He looked at him with the eyes of a killer.

"The light always wants the destruction of darkness." She said to him. He looked at her.

"Yes, but not always. I can see the darkness within you, and I want to know it better." He whispered. Stepping closer to her. He pulled her close and kissed her. The sword gripped in his hand. He broke away from the kiss and looked at Raphael. "If I kill him, you will be mine." He stepped towards Raphael menacingly, then stopped. He closed his eyes

"Very good Donatello." Donatello blinked, looking at the sword. He looked at Raphael. "It has always been he and I, hasn't it?" He questioned.

"As it has always been Leonardo and Michelangelo. Two opposites, one light, one dark." He gave her the sword back. He wrapped both arms around her.

"I don't like feeling that way. The thought of taking a life shouldn't feel that easy." He said fear in his voice.

"To a sword it is. There is no moral dilemma of right or wrong, death is a sword's only purpose."

"I don't think I can use that sword." He said shaking his head.

"You can concentrate on their protection Donatello. There are also the guns on the bike. But remember you won't be using the swords on people, you will be using them on demons and even then you aren't actually killing them." She pulled herself from his embrace. She looked at Raphael and held out _Bloody Rage_. He was the last to be tested, and it was a test. A test of resolve, of will, and he knew he would fail.

"I can't." He said shaking his head. "I can't control my own anger let alone the fury that rages within that sword. Everyone has always told me to control my temper, but, I can't, and I never thought that it would be so important for me to...I have tried!" He said anger warring with fear.

She looked at him. There was no judgement in those eyes. She did not think any less of him, did not reproach him, nothing. "Have you?"

"Yes!"He shouted. "I have tried every technique Master Splinter has ever tried and I can't!"

"I see." She said walking over to Leonardo. "Leonardo's anger is like water. It ebbs and it flows." She said placing a hand on his chest. Leonardo used his free hand to cover it with his own. He felt his rage begin to burn."It can be diverted, held back and even dissipated. But you Raphael, your anger burns like an eternal flame. It has never been extinguished, and so it burns out of control within you. It cannot be diverted, it is almost impossible to contain and even when extinguished, the embers still smoulder. " She took off Leonardo's trench coat and gave it to Leonardo who reluctantly took it. She strode towards him. "It is time for your rage to consume you Raphael." She threw the sword at him. On pure instinct he grabbed it out of the air.

He vaguely heard Leonardo shout "No!" But he couldn't hear anything but the blood rushing through his ears. His body was burning with anger, betrayal, wrath and resentment. Someone needed to die, blood needed to be spilt to take away the pain and agony that roared through him. He screamed his rage and focused on the woman who had betrayed him, had betrayed him with his own brothers. They would be the next to die, but first her and her alone would feed the hunger of the blade. His body glowed with markings as he swung the sword at her.

Strike after strike he hit the sword she held, and with each frenzied strike he pushed her back. He could hear yelling, but the words made no sense. "Why are you so angry Raphael?" She asked him as their faces got close swords pressed against one another.

"You betrayed me, with my own brothers!" He screamed at her. She dodged as he tried to skewer her.

"Now we know that is not true. You were angry before I ever arrived. What makes your fury burn like an everlasting sun?" He caught her arm with a wild swing, blood splattered on the ground. The sword hummed with joy. He needed more blood to spill, needed to taste more, and then and then death, the taste of death was what he craved most.

"We are the only ones of our kind. We are freaks of nature! We have saved this damn world so many times, and do you think anyone of them even knows!" He screamed bitterly. "NO! They run and they scream every time they see us and I can't stand it! We hide underground in a filthy sewer like , like vermin!" Slash. Another arc of blood made it to the floor. "The fighting will never stop!" Slash. "We are going to die in some horrible way!" Slash. "And no one will even care!" Slash. "We will never be able to just stop, to just be." Slash."No one will ever be able to love freaks like us, ever! We will never have families of our own! We will fight alone and die utterly alone!" The last word was choked out. "Why couldn't you have chosen me, and only me?" He asked desperately. "Wasn't I enough for you, couldn't I be enough for you?"

He fell to his knees as emptiness washed over him. He looked at her in anguish. Blood from a dozen slashes ran down her body. He was covered in her blood and all he felt was empty. He looked at the sword that was at his throat and he decided there was one way to make the pain stop. It called to him. There was nothing of him left. It was all gone, nothing but a dull hollow ache somewhere in the vicinity of his heart.

"_Motre Morossus_ calls her gift back Raphael. What she gave, she will gladly take away." She whispered. She was kneeling in front of him knees touching.

He grabbed the blade of the sword pushed against his neck. He felt the blade bite into his hand, then he pushed it away. The blades clattered to the floor as she took his face in both hands and forced him to look at her. "Death is the only road we must always travel alone Raphael. I will not tell you things you already know about your friends and family, and you already know the answer to your last question. You are loved Raphael. I love you more than anything."

"You can never have one without the other, darkness and light." Raphael whispered.

"One piece of magic divided into four parts, two pieces of light two pieces of dark, one whole."

"So it was never really about us, just our magic." Raphael said, voice empty.

"I am a goddess of magic Raphael, surrounded by creatures of magic. I have never loved them as I love you." She said gently touching his face. "I would have loved you even if there was not a scrap of magic within you."

He took the comfort of her touch, as the realization of the violence that he again inflicted upon her hit him. "I'm a monster." He whispered. "I've managed to...look what I've done to you. You are right. I am darkness, but Leo, you're wrong, Leo isn't a monster like me, he...he's a good guy, a good brother, he always looks out for us." He said looking at him.

She looked at him in confusion as if she wasn't sure what he was talking about. Then understanding filled her eyes. She smiled at him gently. "The darkness did not pick you and Leonardo because you have evil in your soul Raphael. It picked you because you are both conflicted in your dealings with situations. Sometimes doing the _right _thing isn't always the _good_ thing. Sometimes, people have to pay for what they have done, and sometimes they pay for it with their lives. You are not a monster Raphael. The sword inflicted the wounds, not you."

"But I wielded the sword."

"No the sword wielded you, until there was no rage or anger left to feed on. You will now be able to wield _Cuthach Fuilteach_, without it wielding you." She helped him shakily to his feet. He still felt empty and raw, and overwhelmed by everything he had seen, everything he had experienced both in the Soul and Memory Rooms of the goddess as well as with the emotions caused by the wielding of the sword.

"Why isn't your blood disappearing?" He asked her still feeling disconnected somehow. Her blood was dripping off him and it was still running down her body.

"I was cut by an Immortal weapon. To me the swords are as real as your weapons are to you. They are able to kill me, so the wounds they inflict heal more slowly, whereas the wounds inflicted by your weapons would never be able to kill me." Her wounds began to heal, but they were both still covered in her blood. She helped him to his feet and grabbed the swords and sheathed them. She gave _Bloody Rage_ to him, and _Capricious Death_ to Michelangelo. She looked at her sword which was still floating in the air. Raphael watched as it seemed to flicker. He blinked and shook his head. She grabbed hold of the sword and walked a few steps away.

He opened his mouth. "I'm going for a shower." She said. They heard a door slam and the sound of running water.

He looked at his brothers and felt ashamed. He had cut her up, again, and now his brothers knew his deepest darkest fears and desires.

Leonardo walked over to him. "Shut up Raphael." He said to him just as he was going to open his mouth. He snapped his mouth shut and stared at him.

"Don't you think we haven't had the same thoughts, the same fears, the same wants. Raphael we know. We have just tried to do the best we can, with what we know, and with what we have." Leonardo said to him laying a hand on his shoulder.

"But it doesn't feel good enough Leo. Haven't you ever wanted more?" He whispered.

Leonardo looked in the direction of the bathroom. "Yes." Was all he said.

He took _Bloody Rage_ from him and took it out of the scabbard. It glowed but no rage appeared on his face. "C'mon Mikey, let's put these swords through their paces."

The sound of metal upon metal rang out through Donatello's workroom. The goddess returned and watched them fight, throwing in a suggestion here and there. Donatello took up the bow and shot it a few times, as did Michelangelo and Leonardo. Goddess healed the wounds on each of them. Raphael was wielding _Bloody Rage_ against Donatello who had reluctantly picked up _Capricious Death_ when he stopped. His face went pale.

"Donny what's wrong, is the sword..." Leonardo asked with concern.

"Where is she?" He managed to choke out.

Raphael looked around the room and realized that Goddess was no longer there.

"Donny, what's wrong?" Raphael said with worry.

"She said there were two reasons that she could never choose. Not choose only one, but to choose in general. She only told us one reason, and then there was something she said when we were watching the sunrise this morning she said I didn't actually know why she wouldn't choose. It has been bothering me and then I wondered where her heart was, she said it wasn't in the sword, and I was an idiot because I didn't think about it, and I should have figured it out sooner especially with her marking Raph like she did. Her heart isn't _in_ the sword, her heart _is_ the sword, and that sword...We have to find her, now." Donatello said his voice rising in panic. They began searching the lair for her, but it was Leonardo who found her in Master Splinter's meditation room.

She didn't move as they entered the room. She was leaning against the wall, eyes closed, flickering sword laying on the ground her hand resting on the grip. It flickered one last time and then dimmed. It was the only way to describe it. It was as if the light was going out.

Leonardo knelt down. "Goddess." She didn't move. He grabbed her face and forced her to look at him. "Goddess what's wrong. When Raph...is it because...do you need more blood?" He asked.

She opened her eyes. The sword dimmed a little more. She winced in pain and with one hand she reached up and looked to be trying to pull something from her neck.

"Donny!" Raphael screamed.

"It's why she wouldn't choose Raph, why she didn't want to get as close to us as she did." He whispered. Donatello knelt down and looked at the sword. "She's dying Raph." He managed to choke out. "That sword is the heart of her soul. She ripped out her own heart and created a sword with it, hid it outside her body, but it is still part of her soul, and her soul is dying."

Raphael felt his heart stop, his body grow cold, his whole world collapsed. He knew he had already lost her, knew he couldn't share with his brothers, but...He couldn't lose her, not like this!

"It took you longer to figure it out than I thought it would Donatello." She said with a small smile. "At least I think I may still be able to keep my promise to you Leonardo" She managed to force out. "I have some little time left." She said through blood clenched teeth.

"Don't you dare!" He screamed at her. "_Do not go gentle into that good night/Rage rage against the dying of the light_."

"Dylan Thomas." She said with the hint of a smile. "That one isn't in your collection." Her eyes grew serious. "Sometimes the darkness has the softest embrace, the light, the harshest. That one is my own."

Raphael thought furiously kneeling down in front of her. "Would having a Consort help? I don't care who, pick me, pick Donny, pick Leo, pick Mikey I don't care, but if you made one of us your Consort would it save you?" He asked desperately.

"The Binding is bound around my soul. If you became my Consort Raphael, all it would do is bind you to a dying goddess, you would become a god Raphael, and I would not wish that for you. A god without his goddess would be a very long and lonley existance. Because you are mortal, I do not know if my death would strip away your godhede dragging you into death with me, or if you would be returned to your mortal state, or if you would simply remain a god." She looked at him through pain filled eyes.

"That is why you..." Donatello began.

"Yes, I knew I didn't have long left, butI couldn't take the chance that having you make love to me would kill you Donatello. All of you I just couldn't risk it." Raphael felt pain rip through his heart as betrayal washed over him. He shook his head he didn't have time for those feelings, hell he didn't even care at the moment. He had been telling the truth, if she wanted one of his brothers and if it would have kept her alive, he would back off, he would step away because then at least he would have known that she was still aive, somewhere and maybe happy. _There had to be something he could do, some way to save her! _His mind screamed at him.

She had always said that there was a price to pay for everything. He would pay any price, he would give her up, he would give up his very soul if she just survived. Hell, he would make a deal with Lucifer himself if it would save her.

She looked at him as if she knew what he was thinking. "Only the demon who placed the Binding can remove it, or a god or goddess of magic." She said with a self depreciating smile. "I suppose I could have looked for Isis, she is still on Earth, but I don't think she is powerful enough to have broken the Binding." She closed her eyes.

"Gabriel said you had time!" Donatello yelled.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "I Fell Donatello, it nearly killed me, it should have killed me." She winced in pain again. "I got lucky Donatello. No god has ever been stripped of their godhede and lived. I thought maybe, I would be immune to losing my godhede since my soul was mortal, but I _am_ the goddess of magic. I lasted two months and fell in love with all of you. You wanted to know what I wanted Leonardo, I wanted what everyone wants, happiness. And I found it for a short while." She said smiling at him. She doubled over. "Not yet." She whispered. "Not yet. I need more time." The blade faded to near nothingness. "I will have more time." She said with determination.

Raphael paled."That was your price wasn't it! My Life for yours. Wasn't it!"

She looked at Raphael reached out and touched his cheek. "No Raphael, your price was not my life, your price was what it always was, power." She said to him. Raphael placed his hand over hers. "No,no,no please Goddess no. You can't leave me, you can't leave us." Raphael begged.

She pulled her hand away pulling her sword up. She rested her head on the pommel. "Always remember this, nothing is ever really destroyed. Not really. Sometimes it is just different. Anything created cannot be wholly destroyed, even if the only place it remains is in ones memory, or ones heart." She said gently touching Leonardo and Raphael's chest, right over their hearts. Raphael felt it then, whatever link she had with him he could feel her, and he could feel her fading. She closed her eyes.

"Goddess no, please, please no." Michelangelo said as he fell to his knees touching her face.

Her eyes wearily opened. "It's time." She said with determination as she struggled to rise. "We have company, and it's not Lucifer." Leonardo tried to stop her. "They are here Leonardo, and if I don't go out there and meet them, they are going to huff and puff and blow your house down."

"You can't even stand." Raphael said desperately.

"I am keeping my promise Raphael." She looked at him seriously. "Even I cannot outrun my Fate. Give me _Cuthach Fuilteach_." She said to him.

"How do you expect to fight!" He said heatedly

"Who said anything about fighting?" She asked as she pulled the blade a little from the sheath. A red ball floated out from the blade.

"No!" Donatello shouted. "You said the last time you consumed one of those you lost yourself to the dark goddess within you!" She plucked it out of the air and it disappeared. She clutched her head and closed her eyes. She stilled then opened them. They blazed green. She gave him back Bloody Rage, tucked her faded soul into her belt and said, "All of you, stay here, stay armed, close the protective circle in Donatello's workroom."

Then she was gone.

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	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Sorry this one took a little longer to get up, it was a busy weekend=)

Anyway getting near the end, second last chapter! Just a slight warning, there is violence and gore and is a little graphic. Please read and review!

* * *

They looked at each other. It was too much, it was emotionally too much for Raphael to take. He felt devastation take hold of him and throw him out to sea. Leonardo put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at his brother. "I can't lose her Leo, I can't."

"Are you two coming?" Michelangelo asked grimly, _Capricious Death_ blazing in his hand. He grimly looked at his brothers. Raphael gave _Bloody Rage_ to Leonardo and ran with Donatello to his workroom. He grabbed the bow and Donatello ripped apart the gas tank of the shell cycle, a gun in each hand.

"I hate guns." Donatello grumbled as they caught up to Michelangelo and Leonardo as they ran from the lair. They had to find her, had to help her, even if saving her was futile.

They reached the opening of the lair and stopped. There was a man floating in the air above Goddess. He was handsome with short brown hair tanned skin and brown eyes. He wore a fancy, well tailored black and white pinstripe Italian suit. There was something about him, almost that used car man feel. Something slimy and malicious and deadly rolled behind his smiling brown eyes. Power radiated off of him and it was all Raphael could do to stay on his feet. Whoever this guy was, he was giving off the same power that Gabriel had, but because it wasn't as concentrated in a small area, it was dissipating more into the surrounding area. But the power was still oppressive and almost consuming.

Goddess stood in tattered bloody clothes, the wind whipping her hair around her in a glorious silken cloud. "So you are the leader of the rebels K'emeth?" She asked.

"Of course I am." Replied the man smoothly. Two other men hovered slightly behind him. They looked like bodyguard goons, being thick and stocky, forgettable to look at, and probably able to bench press cars in their sleep. They wore Italian suits as well and dark shades. "Bet you thought it was Azazel." He smirked. "Oh don't get me wrong, I got him to place the Binding on you, but of course the order came directly from Lucifer, or at least that is what he believed."

Goddess paled. "So now Lucifer will be chasing poor Azazel while I kill you, claim the title of The Killer of the Golden Goddess, and take over Hell, and then, let the Apocalypse begin!" He said rubbing his hands together gleefully.

"But you are the highest ranking demon of Lucifer's army, why would you...?"

"Because, Hell has been in a hand basket ever since your little visit to us. Many of the demons that have been created are...lacking. Even Lucifer himself has changed. He has been distracted of late, too obsessed with you and that damn sword of yours, which I will also take from your dead body, and use against the masses of demons and devils who oppose me. I even have some of the Fallen on my side as well. I bet you recognized some of Beelzebub's demons." He looked at her, malice glittering in his eyes. "Lucifer has grown soft, it is time for a new regime." He waved his hand negligently. "I did try to kill you. Imagine my surprise at finding that you still lived. Of course, as I said, this almost works better for me, as I will be able to bring what is left of your battered body back to Hell, along with your sword and show the masses that it is I, not Lucifer who should lead Hell. After Lucifer failed to kill you the last time you were in Hell, and decimated almost the entirety of Hell's Legions, my success and his failure, should turn any who still mistakenly have loyalty to Lucifer, to me."

She just shrugged unconcerned. "Of course this battle will be rather disappointing for me. You have practically faded. How disappointing. But I may still be able to have some fun." He smiled evilly then flicked a glance at Raphael and his brothers. "Kill them, bring me Andora." He said as around 100 demons appeared from thin air. They were on the ground in front of them. They looked like some bad science experiment where someone had the brilliant idea of mixing a few different animals together and seeing what you got. And what you got was stupid and ugly. Unfortunately for them stupid and ugly didn't mean they weren't fast and deadly.

Raphael pulled the string of the bow back and shot it at K'emeth. The arrows aim was true, but the demon held out a hand and the arrow hit a shield dissipating. Raphael grimaced in pain from the price of the arrow.

"Why am I not surprised that you didn't listen to me." Goddess growled. "Don't attack K'emeth, he's too strong, if you want to fight, fight them." She said pointing at the mass of demons charging towards them. "Don't forget to avoid their blood." She said as she charged into the mass of demons her faded sword held at the ready. They followed. Michelangelo and Leonardo began cutting a swath through the screaming mass. They tried avoiding the spraying blood as best as they could, but they could not avoid it all.

The demons were fast. Raphael could no longer count the number of arrows he had shot into the throng. He and Donatello had developed a system where he would freeze the demons and Raphael would dispatch them with the bow.

Goddess suddenly appeared by his side. She was covered in blood. She took the bow from his grip. "You will be unable to ever use this arm again if you continue Raphael. She placed _Bloody Rage_ into his hand and she was gone. He charged at a demon who had appeared behind Donatello. The blade sliced at the blackened twisted body of the thing. It screamed at him as it managed to pull away in time for the blade to only nick it. It looked almost insect like, but with chicken feet. A long insect-like arms lashed out at him. He managed to dodge, but the demon was gone, no not gone, moving faster than he could see. He turned trying to find it. He fell as he felt the scrape of claws on flesh and then the demon appeared in front of him screaming in agony as its body was halved.

Michelangelo helped him up, _Capricious Death_ blazing in his hand. They looked over at the destruction they had caused. All of the demons were dead. Or he supposed not really dead, just sent back to Hell. He looked at his bloodied arm. It was a mass of shredded flesh that blazed with pain. He tried to ignore his arm as well as the many burns that covered his body from the demon's blood. He looked up at K'emeth who was watching them.

He began laughing. "Well that was entertaining." He said smugly. "Futile but entertaining."

The goddess looked up at K'emeth. She was struggling to remain upright. Her soul was only the faint outline of a sword. She looked over her shoulder at them. She smiled a sad smile then turned her attention back to K'emeth.

"Here is the deal K'emeth, my life for theirs. You give your solemn oath to leave them alone, forget you even saw them, that includes your demons as well, and you get me." She said.

"No!" Leonardo screamed. "We can beat him, we can win!" Leonardo's blood dripped to the ground from his wounded arm.

K'emeth laughed ignoring Leonardo. "Well now, that doesn't seem like much of a deal." He said voice oily and cold, looking at Leonardo."You won't be any fun for me, you're practically already dead, just a talking corpse really. Oh but that is all you really are anyway. But I think it would be fun for you to watch these...creatures, you are trying to protect die before your eyes. I would like to hear you scream in agony before I rip you limb from limb. After all I do so miss the sound of your screams." He smiled a sweet smile of innocence. "Oh yes I ordered your torture when you were in Hell. I still remember the sweet sound of your screams as the demons ripped each tiny piece of you off, and how you screamed when they began eating all those pieces. But the true rapture of your screams was not attained until they ripped you open and began dragging your organs out. Of course I was very impressed you even managed to survive. After all even the strongest souls can barely survive that kind of torture without breaking, and you actually had a body. I very much wanted to know how much damage you would be able to take before you finally died. It was however unfortunate that the demons were stupid enough to leave you most of an arm and your legs with which you made your escape." Raphael was beginning to see spots in front of his eyes and the bile was hot in his throat.

"So do we have a deal or not?" She asked, voice steady. Her soul began to gain solidity. It was still faint, but it looked like through sheer force of will, she was giving herself strength, just to protect them. Raphael felt insignificant and unworthy of such devotion to saving their lives. K'emeth sneered. She _moved _then, one minute she was standing in front of them, the next she was gone. She reappeared farther from the entrance of the lair and more to the left as if dragging the eye of the demon away from them. In each hand was a screaming demon bodyguard. They had lost thier human appearance. Oily black skin covered a vaguely human body. Insect like wings flapped uselessly. She was holding each of them like pieces of luggage. An arm straight through the chest of each, a hand gripping each spine. "This is my last offer K'emeth. Your oath, and you will have my life, or I will take yours." She said, eyes a steady green, but absolute menace dripping from each word.

K'emeth laughed. "Oh, I think not. I think I will kill them slow, maybe recreate the torture I put you through. Of course they won't last as long as you did, shame really, but one must be content to live with life's little disappointments" He said as he snapped his fingers. Suddenly it was as if a veil dropped and thousands of demons floated in the air behind him. The sheer force of their power staggered him. Unlike the demons that had just attacked them, all of these demons had wings of some sort, and were vaguely humanoid in shape, and that is where the similarities stopped. Some were so gruesome to gaze upon that Raphael's mind was unable to even process the horror of the image. Raphael felt himself fall to his knees, crushed by the futility of their fight and the magnitude of the power the demons possessed. He tore his gaze away from the mass of writhing shapes and looked at his brothers, all of whom were on their knees, staring at the death that awaited them. They hadn't known, hadn't understood what it was that she was trying to protect them from, but how could they know, how could they even comprehend?

"A 5000 demon Legion, just for me? All high ranking demons too, why I don't know what to say, it's the best birthday present two goddesses could ever ask for." She said with a grisly smile. "I would just like to point out that I did give you the choice, and you really should have taken it."

He laughed. "Arrogance such as that is truly worthy of Lucifer himself. I shall enjoy this."

She laughed then, and the sound sent a shiver of cold fear down Raphael's spine. It was the type of laugh that reminded him of the fact that he was a mere mortal and should be cowering in a cave somewhere as primal forces howled, ripped, hunted, tormented and destroyed unsuspecting mortals. "Do you think that such a one as you could ever truly destroy me without me allowing you?" She said in a voice filled with disgust. The demons continued to scream their agony in her grip. They thrashed and tried to tear themselves fron her grip, but her grip remained firm. If this bothered her at all she didn't show it. Gone was the laughing smiling woman who had given them her love and joy, instead a brutal killer stood in her place.

K'emeth sneered at her. "My Binding has killed you, you have nothing left. So you can still fight, do not think you can frighten me."

"Your Binding," she said voice dripping with contempt, "is nothing to me. I could have broken it anytime I desired."

"You lie." He said.

"You know I cannot lie, so I am telling the plain unadulterated truth." She said viciously.

"Don't get me wrong, I am impressed you managed to survive so long, all gods who have ever been Bound have died instantaneously. After all, a god without his powers cannot exist, a gods power being essentially what the god is and without being what you are, ceases to be. But if you could have broken my Binding anytime you wished, why not do it immediately? You have been dying for what, two months now, and offered your life as sacrifice. If you could have broken the Binding you would have." K'emeth sneered back.

"Circumstances have changed, you have forced me to break the Binding," She smiled at him darkly. "And all it will cost me is a human soul."

Raphael looked at her in confusion, but Donatello and Leonardo seemed to understand. "You can't!" Donatello screamed. "We aren't worth it, please!"

The wind began to whip around them more strongly as Donatello looked at her with a bleak realization in his eyes.

"I don't understand." Michelangelo said fear in his voice.

"She's going to sacrifice her soul." Donatello said his voice desolate. "She broke her soul into pieces so the goddesses couldn't get at it. Ryn is probably already gone, just the sword remains. She consumed the demon soul which threw her out of balance, cracking the crystal seal within her mind, and if that weren't enough to entice the goddesses to wake, she is throwing her soul into the mix for good measure. One or the other of the goddesses will consume her soul, and they will rise." He said bleakly.

"But she said she couldn't let them out until they would no longer fight." Leonardo said fear in his voice

Her sword flew from her hand and floated in front of her, it began to blaze. "You see I didn't really want to sacrifice this soul, but it seems that I have no choice."

"Looks like they promised to play nice." Michelangelo said grief and terror in his voice.

"You can't be serious." K'emeth sneered. "That soul is ancient, but even a soul as powerful and pure as that one cannot break the Binding."

"You're right of course, it will indirectly break the Binding however." She said with a devious smile.

"I can't believe you would be willing to sacrifice something so powerful for a few measly freaks!" He yelled at her. "Your own life I could understand, but them!" Disgust and repugnance oozed from his lips.

She broke the spines of the two demons in her grip. The sound of bone breaking echoed through the night. The demons screamed louder, thrashed harder. They ripped and tore at her arms and legs with claws and teeth, babbling in a language they could not understand, and still she held them firm. She looked down at the thrashing demons, slammed them into the ground, placing a foot on each body. Then she pulled, ripping the spinal columns from their bodies in one percise swift movement. There was an eruption of blood, bone, and organs as flesh peeled away from bone. Their faces peeled away from their skulls. She held a writhing, screaming, bloody spinal column with skull in each hand. She threw them to the ground, lifted a leg and stomped on each screaming, writhing head. Blood, brain matter and flesh exploded from each skull. Raphael watched this in horror as the contents of his stomach threatened to revolt. "I am merciless" She said defiantly. A red orb floated from each crushed skull. "You will die by my hand K'emeth!" She shouted at him.

Then several things happened at once. Her soul blazed then disappeared, she consumed the two demon souls, and K'emeth ordered his demonic Legion to attack.

The goddess screamed as a magic circle blazed around her. A staff appeared in each hand. She was crouched down eyes in shadow. She began to blaze as the circle blazed blue and red, as if the power of the circle were fighting with itself. Then it blazed to life in a purple fire that was blinding. The blaze broke and she crashed together the two staffs to create one. Golden power blazed and burned up her arms as gold armour rode over her body. Gold gauntlets encircled her hands and arms plated armour covered upper arms, flowing into shoulder guards. Her hair and ears turned pure white, but were then hidden beneath a helm with golden curling horns. White feathers burst from black membrane to be encased in razor edged silver metal. A silver and gold breastplate covered her torso. Golden thigh guards appeared, and golden sandals appeared on her feet lacing up to her knees. Plated armour continued down her tail which became webbed on the end. A white cape formed around her shoulders, and a white linen skirt appeared around her waist.

The demons who had been in the process of attacking the goddess were incinerated when the circle broke. Simultaneously a circle enclosed them, sparing them the same fate. Her power made Gabriel's crushing force seem like a drop of water in a vast ocean, the demon's a tiny trickle of a creek, and her power was still growing. The ground beneath her feet crushed in upon itself forming a crater. Magic sparked and flowed and crackled around her.

She was almost too much to behold. She was radiant, and powerful and how could he have known? How could they have grasped that the woman they had known was a mere shadow of what she was. Raphael had always wondered why she wore so little armour, like a man's fantasy woman. Now he realized that her armour was his equivalent to jeans and a t-shirt. This is what she wore into battle. This was the Goddess of Magic, and she was beyond words.

She vanished and like the moment of silence before a storm it was deadly quiet until the screams began and the sky opened up raining down caustic blood. The blood hit the dome that encircled them and it burned gold.

She appeared in front of them awash in blood. She looked over her shoulder at them with fathomless green, amber and blue, tri-coloured eyes. "We see." She said as she turned away. I was then they felt the drawing of a great amount of power. The demon Legion was in chaos, K'emeth was screaming orders, trying to be heard over the panic and screams about The Golden Goddess. K'emeth felt the power she was drawing to her. "You wouldn't. You'll destroy the world." K'emeth shouted at her.

"Yes" She said with a voice devoid of emotion.

"But I guess she didn't get them to promise not to destroy the world." Michelangelo said in fear.

The power peaked "Death..." She began. Demons screamed in terror as they tried to fly from her power. With one hand she held a crackling ball of white power, in the other she held her staff. The staff was bladed, having a giant scythe-like axe blade on the end. She pointed the staff at the demons and swiped it across the sky. The sky trembled then ripped open exposing an orange sky with triple suns. You could just make out giant flying creatures circling in the sky, bare mountainous peaks jutted out like jagged teeth against the hellish skyline. "...and Destruction." The power shot forth hitting demons and incinerating them. The Power rolled, expanding outwards destroying everything in its path. The flying creatures, the tops of the jagged peaks were gone, no explosion, nothing, just gone.

She launched herself at K'emeth whose form changed into a hulking red skinned demon. Horns jutted like antennae from his head. Black armour covered his body, bat-like wings jutted from his back as a sword appeared in his hand. She drove him back with her staff, pushing him towards the tear in the universe. She made a motion with her hand and the world in the sky closed taking with it the power she had pitched into it along with herself. The darkened sky of twilight returned and the shield surrounding them dropped.

"Goddess!" Raphael screamed into the night. His rage resurfaced only to sputter and die as horror and grief consumed it.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Leonardo didn't know how long they sat there, or how they managed to get back into the lair. They tended to their wounds in a dazed state, none of them talking just concentrating on the task at hand. He eventually found himself back in his room, each brother tormented by their own private grief. She was gone. He didn't even know if that was the double goddesses within one body, or if she had somehow managed to not be consumed by the goddesses within her. He didn't know if she were alive or worse than dead and the anguish of not knowing was tearing him apart.

The next day the papers reported that someone had set off a massive amount of fireworks in central park which had resulted in the unexplained colours and lights that had been seen in the night sky, and a mild explosion which had caused a large crater near a sewer service tunnel. Leonardo was watching the news with Michelangelo. They were the only two who had managed to make their way out of bed this morning. Leonardo had thought about staying in bed, but when Michelangelo had knocked on his door, he had managed to pull his grief shattered heart together and get out of bed. Donatello and Raphael were locked in their rooms and hadn't answered his knocks.

Michelangelo was curled up on the couch with a blanket wrapped around him. Leonardo was sitting at the kitchen table his trench coat that still smelled like her in his hands. He closed his eyes in agony thinking about all the time he had wasted being angry at her, and hiding his feelings from himself, he felt a new tear rip through his heart.

"Do you think...do you think she's still alive Leo?" Michelangelo asked.

"I don't know Mikey." He whispered.

"I'd like to think that she's still alive." He said staring at the TV. "She's been through so much, suffered so much, fought against all odds. I can't see her just...giving up."He said, his voice small.

Leonardo looked over his shoulder as Donatello emerged from his room. He was bleary eyed and pale. He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. Leonardo knew he didn't look much better.

"I would like to think so too Mikey." He whispered.

Donatello slumped into a chair. He put his head down on the table. "So what now Leo?" He asked in a mumbled voice.

"I..." Leonardo turned his head. He felt something tingling along his skin. He stood up quickly as Master Splinter emerged from a portal.

"My sons, I came as quickly as I could, but my way has been hampered by scores of restless spirits and demons. A journey that should have taken moments has taken a full day." His face was full of grief. He walked forward and he closed his eyes. "A father should never have to outlive his son." He said sorrowfully. He walked over to Leonardo, Michelangelo leapt up from the couch. "How was...how was Raphael slain Leonardo?" Master Splinter asked placing a hand on his shoulder. A tear in his eye.

Leonardo looked at his father in shock. "Master...father, Raphael..." It felt like ages ago, another lifetime ago that he had watched Raphael cut down by the demon. If it wasn't for Her, Raphael would be dead. He closed his eyes against the rise of pain in his heart.

"Did he die honourably my son?" Master Splinter asked, eyes full of grief and understanding.

"No," He began. Mater Splinter's eyes widened in shock. "No I mean Raphael is still alive." He quickly corrected.

Master Splinter's eyes filled with relief. "I had thought, I swore I felt...My senses must not be what they once were."

"No, your senses are as keen as ever father. Raphael was slain by a demon over two months ago." Leonardo whispered.

Confusion filled Master Splinter's eyes. "Goddess brought him back." Michelangelo said from where he stood.

"Wait, did you say that your journey took a day?" Donatello broke in pulling his head from the table.

Mater Splinter closed his eyes. "I think there is a long story that will require much explaining. But first I would like to see Raphael. Leonardo I believe I will require some tea." Master Splinter sat at the table while Michelangelo attempted to pry Raphael from his room. Leonardo heated the kettle then took a mug from the cupboard, poured the water into the mug and placed it in front of his father. Master Splinter looked at the mug in confusion. "Tea Leonardo?"

Leonardo looked at the mug in front of his father. It was Her mug. She had always sat in the same spot holding the same mug. It was Michelangelo's favourite mug, with the picture of the white kitten with black ears staring at the camera, head tipped curiously to the side. How many times had she sat in that chair? How many times had he poured her a mug of hot water that she just held between hands that were cold from lack of blood, and she never complained once, just smiled at him as he grumbled about boiling and pouring the water. And yet he secretly revelled in her nearness, in the fact that it was always him that she sought out to sit at the table with. "Sorry father." He choked out taking the mug from the table and putting it aside. He focused on making the tea and set it in front of his father. Master Splinter opened his mouth, but Michelangelo entered the kitchen dragging Raphael behind him.

Master Splinter looked at Raphael in shock. Raphael emerged only wearing pyjama bottoms. Master Splinter stood and walked over to him. He looked at his scars, and his fresh wounds from the battle with the demons. "My son, I had believed you slain. You were gravely injured, but some of your wounds have healed completely. How is this possible?" He asked. "And your brothers have been also been badly wounded in a recent battle. What has happened?

Raphael closed his eyes in grief. Michelangelo put a hand on his shoulder in comfort sharing the look of grief.

"If She was cut off from her powers, and the portals are themselves magic, but magic was still working, it is possible that without someone to keep the magic focused, a temporal disturbance was created when Master Splinter used the portal to return here. When She got her powers back order was restored and the temporal shift corrected itself." Donatello said suddenly.

"Huh?" Michelangelo said.

"Master Splinter has been caught in a time loop for two months because She wasn't controlling the magic anymore. So what seemed to be only a day was in actuality two months. And the restless dead and demons, explained by the fighting in Hell." Donatello said looking at Michelangelo.

Master Splinter looked at Donatello in confusion. "You had best sit down Master, it is a very long story." Donatello said as sorrow filled his eyes.

Leonardo took Her mug from the counter sat down and held it between his hands. Somehow it was comforting. Raphael threw him his trench coat which had been sitting on another chair. He put it in his lap.

"Our home smells like blood, sulphur, fire and...flowers?" Master Splinter said as he smelled the air around him.

Leonardo began the story, his brothers adding bits and pieces here and there until his throat felt raw and he couldn't talk anymore for fear of breaking down. He had to cling to the hope that maybe, against all odds, she would come back to them. Donatello took over the story when he was unable to go on. When Donatello finally reached the end even he could not finish.

"She sacrificed herself for us." Raphael said heatedly. He drew a hand over his eyes. 'It's my fault." Then he shook his head. "In the end, she paid for my arrogance with her life."

"We don't know that Raphael." Donatello said to him. "She might still be alive."

"Do you really believe that Donny?" Raphael questioned.

"I have to Raph, it's the only way I was able to crawl out of bed this morning."

Leonardo shook his head. "If I hadn't made her give me that dam oath, she...she."

"Would have died sooner Leo." Donatello whispered. "That promise is the only thing that kept her alive after Falling Leonardo."

"A lot of good it did her." Raphael growled. " I'm going to go hit something." Raphael said as he walked away from the kitchen.

Master Splinter was silent for a long time. "You share your grief equally my sons, but remember any choices that she made, she made knowing full well the price that she was going to pay."

Leonardo looked at his father. "We know, but it still does not make it any easier to accept." He whispered.

Leonardo got up off his chair walked to the sink and poured out the cold water. He placed the mug back in the cupboard unwashed. He closed the door and walked to the training room to find Raphael.

He had expected to see him hitting his heavy bag but instead found him sitting on the floor looking at the bag. "It's funny Leo. When I was all beat up, all I dreamt about was being able to hit that bag, and now that I can wail on it, I don't even want to. I'm angry, but I can't even summon enough rage to blindly go out and start beating up some low life punks." He rubbed his eyes. "I feel like we should have been able to do something to help her fight all of those demons, but we just stood there, doing nothing but watch as she offered herself up like a lamb to slaughter to that demon in exchange for our lives." He shook his head. "We have keep this city safe. It's...it's what she wanted."

He nodded. "Raph, have you tried to, I don't know, feel her? You are linked with her."

He shook his head. "I'm too scared to Leo. I feel like, I don't know I should have felt something, known if she had...died. I didn't feel anything so I hope..." He closed his eyes. The smell of flowers blew through the room.

Raphael opened his eyes. She was still alive. Leonardo looked at Raphael in shock.

* * *

A few days later Leonardo was called into Master Splinter's meditation room. "Come and sit my son." He said motioning to the ground in front of him.

Leonardo sat and looked at him questioningly.

"Yes Master?" He asked.

"I have meditated much on the events that occurred while I was away. You and your brothers have been training day and night with powerful weapons, and I know the grim task for which you train." Master Splinter said worriedly

Each of them had begun extensive training with the swords. They did not train with the bow, because it literally did all the work for them, all they had to do was point and shoot, then bleed. They had also begun patrolling the streets the day Master Splinter arrived home. The chaos that had been occurring on the streets mysteriously stopped. Even crime was at an all time low. It was as if the city were holding its breath waiting for something to happen. Leonardo knew it was the calm before the storm, he could feel it building, like a static charge that crawled along his skin.

They had told April and Casey what was happening and that if anything strange began happening to come to the lair immediately.

Leonardo focused on his father. "Each of you has changed so much in such a short time. Each of your hearts are filled with grief and pain. Michelangelo no longer jokes, Raphael is no longer angry at the world, Donatello's workshop is silent, and you my son look at your bookcase of books, but no longer read. You still bear the weight of the world on your shoulders, but whatever happened it was not your fault my son."

"I know Master." He said solemnly.

"It sounds as if this woman found a place in your heart as well as in each of your brothers." Master Splinter observed.

"How could she not father? She treated us like we were...normal. There was nothing about our appearance that ever bothered her. Right from the first moment she was curious, but never...repulsed or frightened. And for the first time in my life, in our lives, we weren't different. We weren't _other,_ it felt as if we actually belonged someplace in the world. Donatello said it best, she felt like home."

"You say this goddess saved Raphael's life because he was one of hers, because you possessed magic." Master Splinter asked.

"I know what you are thinking Master Splinter, that we had to love her, or she us because we were hers, because she was our goddess, but she loved us for us, she treated me like I was a man, Master Splinter, not a...freak of nature to be pitied his existence. Of forever being alone, never having someone to love. But, but..." He closed his eyes. "I love her Master Splinter." He said closing his eyes. "And the not knowing if she is coming back...It is suffocating." He stood up and walked to the door, looking back at his father. "She loves all of us Master Splinter." He walked out. He knew that his father would be unable to understand. He had barely been able to understand or accept how she felt.

* * *

Weeks turned into months which turned into longer. April and Casey watched them with worried eyes as they battled the demons that appeared. They fought and fought well. Donatello had explained to them that most of the demons that were escaping hell were lower class demons, the goddess apparently giving him the lowdown on class structure in Hell. It basically meant that they were not the most powerful demons in Hell and for that they were grateful.

The demon attacks began getting less frequent until they stopped altogether. The human population believed they had been under attack but some strange mutated monsters, which was just as well, it would be hard for many of the humans to grasp that they were actually being attacked by demons from Hell.

"This is ridiculous!" Raphael yelled as he hit his heavy bag. "All of the demon attacks have stopped, so where is She!" He shouted. " And I still don't even get why K'emeth wanted her dead, why, why lure her out, why kill her?" Raphael questioned.

Donatello looked up from his examination of Her bow. He had been trying to figure out how it worked. How magic worked. "Because she is Heaven's greatest champion. She could be in Hell and not lose power. Without Her the chances of Lucifer winning dropped significantly. K'emeth knew if he eliminated Her, Lucifer would fall."

Leonardo sheathed his swords and looked at Raphael. "And just because the attacks have stopped here, doesn't mean that the fight in Hell is over." Leonardo said reasonably.

" "Leo's right Raph, we can't know how long a war like this could take. It could take years, decades, centuries. We are talking about a war between beings whose concept of time is fathomless."

"What?" Raphael asked.

"He said that they don't think like we do Raph." Michelangelo said picking himself off of the ground. Michelangelo had been watching Leonardo and Raphael work out.

Raphael looked at Michelangelo in shock. "Since when do you understand anything Donny says Mikey?"

Michelangelo shrugged. "Leo's got some good books."

Raphael shook his head in surprise. Raphael stopped. Something was wrong. He could feel it. He clutched at his chest as Raphael felt emptiness roar through him. He fell to his knees, he couldn't breathe, it was as if an all encompassing darkness was trying to consume him. His heart had ceased to beat.

"Donny!" Raphael heard Leonardo yell.

"I don't know what's wrong with him Leo!" Donatello screamed in panic. _But if he was dead why could he still hear his brothers? _He thought to himself through the all consuming feeling of loss. Then as suddenly as it had stopped, his heart began to beat, air rushed into his lungs, and he clutched at his chest. He looked at his brothers in horror because he knew then that it wasn't his heart that had ceased to beat, it was Hers. He roared with grief because he could feel that something was gone, something had been broken.

"Raphael are you..." Leonardo began, but stopped as if he too felt something. Donatello closed his eyes in grief and Michelangelo fell to his knees. His brothers did not scream in agony but Raphael knew they now felt the same thing, that something was gone, something broke within them and they knew then, she had died.

Raphael closed his eyes against the welling of misery and grief. He pounded the floor. "Goddess!" He screamed. They stared at each other in their grief and sorrow, and there were no words. There could never be words to comfort each other in their loss.

April rushed into their training room. "Guys are you..." She paused when she saw their faces and she paled.

"She's gone April." Donatello managed choke out. She opened her arms to him and she offered what comfort she could. Raphael sat there as his brothers managed to get to their feet and walk out.

It wasn't supposed to end like this. She was supposed to fight, She was supposed to win, She was supposed to come back. But Raphael supposed life wasn't like movies or books where the ending was happy.

He didn't know how long he sat there staring at nothing when Casey walked in. He stood there awkwardly "Bro..." Casey began.

"Don't Case, don't try to say anything." Raphael said voice emotionless.

"I just wanted to tell you that something came for you guys." He looked at him.

"You came in here to tell me that what, we got mail?" He growled, anger trying to push down the grief.

"Big creepy book appeared on your coffee table with a note to all of you, thought it might be important." Casey said as he backed out of the room.

Raphael sat for a few moments then got to his feet. He walked out and found his brothers, Casey, April, and Master Splinter standing around the 'creepy book'. Raphael nodded to his family and looked at the book. It wasn't so much creepy as odd. It was bound in red leather with gilt edging. The pages looked thicker than standard paper, which was what was normal about it. There was a shiny gold lock that enclosed the top and bottom cover of the book. On the clasp were two rings each encircling a raven, wings outstretched, feathers falling from its wings and trailing their way across the front of the book in gilt. There was also a note affixed to the top. It was made of some sort of thick paper and sealed with a red blob of wax that held the same images of the ravens that were on the book.

Leonardo picked up the note and broke the seal. He spread it open on the coffee table. It was written in a language that he couldn't understand, but he didn't need to. The words whispered in his ears.

_The promise made in our name has been fulfilled_._ We understand. She lies in the arms of Death...for now._

The paper began to burn with blue fire. Leonardo tried to get it off the table but it was already gone. It hadn't burnt anything on the table. He looked at his brothers who had apparently heard what he had heard. It had been two soft voices that felt and called of home. Master Splinter looked at them in surprise. April and Casey were looking at them in confusion.

"What just happened?" Casey asked.

"A note from the goddesses." Donatello whispered.

'You mean she..." April started.

Donatello shook his head. "She lies in the arms of Death." A tear rolled down his cheek.

Leonardo looked at the book. There was no key to fit in the lock. He touched the lock and the book opened. A blank page of thick paper greeted them. English script began writing itself on the page. It said simply,

**For Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo and Michelangelo.**

Leonardo flipped the page and gasped. It was a picture of Her. She was sitting at the kitchen table warm mug in hand talking with them while they ate breakfast. The picture wasn't really a photo, though it tried to be one. You could take it out of the book if you wished but the paper was more like really fine stiff cloth. They scanned all of the images on the pages. It was a photo album of the two months that she was with them. There were images of them joking on the couch together, there were candid moments where you could see her thinking deeply about something, or where she was laughing out loud with uninhibited joy. There were intimate moments where one or the other of his brothers were sharing a moment with her. There was one where the image managed to catch the look of utter want, need and misery on Leonardo's face as she stood near him head down as he gripped her arm. It was obviously one of the many times that they had fought, and the naked need on his face hurt just to look at. Leonardo stroked a finger across the image. There was the first time Raphael had kissed her. Her arm wrapped around his neck, another of her just standing in front of him touching his chest, naked desire in her eyes as she gazed up at him. There were pictures of her and Donatello sitting and enjoying a sunrise, of her and Michelangelo, dressed as the Turtle Titan and the Harbinger. Luckily there were no more intimate pictures than of them kissing her. He thought it would be harder to look at the pictures of his brothers kissing the woman he loved, but the images showed that she really did love them. And she looked so happy when she was with them, any of them, even the pictures where Leonardo was scowling she looked as if she were smiling a secret smile.

Leonardo took a picture out of her and him dancing, of all things. She was wrapped in nothing but the couch blanket, and made it look good. The look on her face was pure unadulterated delight. Leonardo smiled at the picture. He placed it back in the album.

They flipped it to the last page. It was her as the Golden Goddess fighting K'emeth. She was looking back and you could just see them in the background standing within the shield. It was Her, moss green eyes looked back with sorrow, love, determination, and the absolute knowledge that she was never going to see them again. She knew she wasn't coming back. Leonardo gently closed the book.

"But how?" Michelangelo asked. "It was like someone was following us around with a camera."

Leonardo picked up the book and held it to his chest.

"They are the memories of the goddesses." Donatello said after some thought. "When we were in...Goddess' memories we were able to see her, it wasn't a first person view, the goddesses must have been watching, or at least they were remembering what she remembered."

The TV turned on and Raphael growled, "Mikey!"

"It wasn't me!" He said in shock as the TV 's volume turned up by itself.

It was turned to the news where the news anchor was talking about a car crash.

"In a strange and horrific turn of fate that has been making international headlines, three best friends from the small town of Ridgemont Alberta, who did everything together, were tragically killed in two separate accidents miles apart at the exact same moment. Katherine Brooks and friend Trevor Mitchell were involved in a head on collision involving a tractor trailer and a patch of black ice. The car slid into oncoming traffic as the tractor trailer crested the hill. And although the driver of the truck was uninjured he swears that he remembers seeing a white motorcycle fleeing the scene which may have contributed to the crash. Police are still investigating.

"The third friend, Charity Hamilton, was killed when the bank of a creek collapsed on top of her while hiking. No other hikers were injured in the incident, but these two accidents have hit the families of these three promising University students, as a triple tragedy."

There was a picture on the screen of three smiling faces. It was Katherine, or how she would have looked as a human. She looked as Ryn had, but she looked different. She looked a little dreamy in the picture, as if her mind was wandering, and her gaze was so innocent it hurt to look at. To know what her fate would be, to know that the innocence of that gaze was going to be shattered forever, hurt. But Raphael recognized her smile, her smile was the same. He glanced briefly at the other two pictures and recognized Charity as the one who had shot her, and Trevor as the brown haired man who had made Daemon turn her into a vampire. Now all three were together again. "So what , this is suppose to make us feel better!" He shouted at the ceiling, or wherever the goddesses were playing their little trick with the TV.

"Yes Raph." Donatello said quietly. "They are giving us her grave." He said voice filled with sadness.

Raphael angrily stood up, walked to his room and slammed the door. He lay down on his bed agony and hurt and sorrow filling him up like a cup that was already too full. He must have fallen asleep because when he woke up he was standing in a room that had no floor or ceiling. He looked at himself angrily.

Dark Raphael stood, his hat pulled down low over his eyes. "We lost her." He whispered angrily.

"I never had her. I never had the chance. She was gone too quickly." He said back miserably.

"But now...there is nothing left." Brown grief filled eyes rose to meet his. "No, there is something left." Eyes blazing they looked at each other. "We'll have to get stronger, much stronger, we will have to learn, and we will have to wait."

Raphael pulled his hat down over his eyes and adjusted his trench coat as his rage rose from smouldering embers. "Well you know what they say, Revenge is a dish best served cold."

To be continued...

* * *

Bad author, bad. I know, but if it is any comfort I am not through with all of them yet. MWAHAHAHA (evil laugh). And I am posting the first chapter of Darkness and Light, the sequel to this story. There are still some loose ends that need to be tied up.I hope you enjoyed this one and follow the next installment! Please read and reveiw!


	28. Darkness and Light preview chapter 1

Alrighty everyone, this is the sequal to **With Death We met. **I would recomend reading it before this one otherwise nothing will make sense.

A/N still don't own TMNT or any of its characters, but all other characters are mine.

I hope you enjoy! Please read and review!

* * *

**Darkness and Light**

**Chapter 1**

Master Splinter looked at him. He had thought that he had been quiet enough, but obviously not.

"The path you seek is not an honourable one my son." Master Splinter said to him.

"I don't care Master. It is the only thing I have left." He said anger and despair in his voice.

"Revenge will not heal what has been broken. She gave you your life back my son, do not waste it. And think about your brothers, they need you."

"I don't have a choice Master, it is who I am. My brothers, they don't need me. I was never any help to them anyway. I was always the one who made things worse. Goodbye Master...Father." Raphael turned and walked away from everything he had ever known.

* * *

**5 years later...**

Raphael looked at the entrance to the lair. It was abandoned. He could tell just by looking at it. His trench coat swirled around him. He walked in anyway, not expecting anything but old memories. Dust covered everything and the very air felt stale, and yet even after all of these years he could still smell Her. It looked like his brothers had left almost everything they had owned. A few personal belongings, but most of the furniture was still present. Donatello's workroom had been cleared out, the kitchen empty, his brother's rooms cleared of some of their possessions. His room had been left untouched. He looked at everything he owned and felt nothing for any of it. He turned and walked out of his room.

He was about to leave when something caught his eye. He walked over to the coffee table. There sitting in the centre was the photo album delivered by the goddesses. He was surprised that his brothers had left this here. He sat down on the dusty couch and touched the leather binding. Dust covered his fingers. He stood leaving the album unopened.

He turned as he felt a presence behind him. "Hello Leo." He said to his brother as he emerged from the shadows.

"Raph." Leonardo replied. Leonardo stood with his arms folded. He was wearing his trench coat, but his mask was gone. Raphael had wondered how this meeting was going to go. The night She died, he left. He took two photos from the album and left with nothing but the clothes on his back and Her bow. Her armour and swords were gone, reclaimed by the goddesses he supposed.

He had to train, to learn, to get better. He had a few more scars, but knew more than when he left. He gave no thought to his brothers, nothing had mattered but the need that consumed him.

"Master Splinter is..." Leonardo began.

"I know Leo. The Ancient One found me, the old one, not the new one. I visited Master Splinter's grave in Japan. He was buried beside Master Yoshi."

Leonardo nodded. Leonardo didn't seem to know whether to be glad he was back, or angry with him for leaving. "You Left." Leonardo said.

"Yeah. I did."

"We needed you Raph." Leonardo said voice low, a slow anger leaking into it.

"You guys didn't need me. You guys never needed me." He said to his older brother.

"Yes we did Raph." Leonardo growled. "You have no idea what it has been like, how broken our family has become."

"Leo..." Raphael began.

"No Raph. It was bad before Master Splinter died, it was even worse after. Donny and Mikey," He shook his head. "You have no idea how bad they have been, especially Donny." He whispered.

"I'm sure Donny will be fine." Raphael said, unconcerned by his brother's worry.

"Yeah, because you are such an expert on him since you've been gone." Leonardo growled.

Raphael turned to leave. He was tired of hearing his brother's accusations.

"He cuts himself Raph." Leonardo said softly, anger draining from his voice.

Raphael turned and looked at his brother in shock. "Donny, no way Donny would never..." He began but was cut off by Leonardo.

"No, Donny is the logical one, the one who hates fighting and violence, the one who broke when she died because he blames himself. He thinks if he could have figured things out sooner, somehow he could have changed things. It doesn't matter that there was no way any of us could have done anything." He sat down on the couch. "I think maybe he got addicted to Her bite." He whispered. "I'm not sure, I can't talk to him. He has shut me out. The only one he talks to is Mikey and even Mikey hasn't been able to get through to him. She broke all of us." Leonardo whispered, then shook his head and stood."Are you staying or are you leaving?" Leonardo finally asked.

Raphael hesitated. He really didn't know why he was back. He had travelled the world gathering information, fighting, getting better, then he felt the need to go home. He visited Her grave first. He had placed white Heather and his red mask on the headstone that marked where Her body lay, but her soul, her soul was somewhere else.

"I don't know." He said truthfully. He didn't think he was going to stay, but if Donatello was really that bad...

"Well are you going to at least see Donny and Mikey?" He asked.

"Maybe." He was non-committal."So Leo a school." He said awkwardly.

"Yeah." Leo said not giving him anything. He didn't know where Donatello and Michelangelo were but he knew Leonardo had opened a martial arts school for anyone who wanted to learn. Usually his students were members of the 'Underground' population. Creatures who were either like them, genetically mutated, or else magically inclined. Some of Her magical creatures had come out of hiding, a few werewolves, a vampire or two. The creatures who could blend in with human society but still felt that they were 'other'. A few humans made it there too, humans who ended up snagged into the world of the Underground.

"She's pretty Leo." Raphael said to him.

Leonardo looked at him in surprise, then nodded. "You aren't angry?" He asked.

"Why would I be angry Leo?" He asked curiously.

"I had just thought..." He began.

"She's dead Leo, She only ever wanted us to be happy. If you have found someone to be happy with, She would be happy for you." Raphael said reasonably.

Leonardo turned his head to the side. "There isn't anything going on between us." He said finally.

"But..." Raphael began.

"I know, she is interested, and I tried, but," He shook his head. "She was only with us for two months, and I have grieved for Her for over five years. But I can't move on Raph. Maybe I need more time, I don't know, but I just can't." Leonardo looked at him. Raphael was silent. "How about you Raph?"

Raphael pulled his black fedora down lower over his black mask, then put his hands in his pockets. "What are you doin' here Leo?" He asked instead of answering the question.

"You've gotten good Raph, but not that good. I knew you would show up here eventually." Raphael nodded then turned to leave.

"I'll meet you at your school tomorrow Leo, see if you can bring Mikey and Donny." He said walking a few steps.

"We didn't know where you went Raph." Leonardo said quietly. "You were just gone. We heard rumours here and there, but we hadn't heard anything for over a year, no rumour no nothing. We thought you were dead." He said quietly.

Raphael looked at his brother. A twinge of guilt trickled through him. "I should have been here when I found out Master Splinter was gone. I should have let you guys know I was still alive. I regret not coming back Leo, I do."

"So what were you doing out there Raph. What we heard was that you have been fighting. A mercenary for hire or some such thing." He said the last with loathing. "And to think I had never pictured you as the suicidal type Raph."

"Would you believe that of me Leo?"He looked at his brother. Leo's eyes steadily looked at him. "I have been working for the Utroms." He said finally. "They hooked me up with the best fighters from around the world. I have been training Leo. Sometimes the Utroms have had me infiltrate some of the Underground groups that have been rising. The Utroms are going to reveal themselves to the world soon Leo. And the world is going to change when they do. They needed me to make sure that some of the Underground groups were under control, so that when the Utroms reveal themselves, the things that go bump in the night, don't bump back." He paused.

"I don't have a death wish Leo. I never did. She risked everything for us, I'm not going to just throw it all away. Besides I had some things to learn before I died." He clenched his fist and his markings flared to life.

Raphael had noticed that his markings were the only ones that had flared when he had used Her sword during the demon war. He had found a mage that had been able to show him how to use the magic she had awoken in him.

"How?" His brother asked surprised.

Raphael shook his head. "I'll catch you tomorrow Leo." He walked to the entrance but paused. "There will never be anyone else for me Leo." He said as he tapped the place where She had left Her mark. He didn't know what, if any, power the mark held now that She was gone, but he knew with absolute certainty that he would never love another, even if he managed to find someone who could love him. He turned and walked out.

* * *

Raphael watched his brothers through the windows of Leonardo's school. Class was in session. Leonardo had about ten students, some were really good, some were just starting out.

Raphael heard a noise behind him. He tried to turn and pull his sais, but a hand bodily picked him up off the ground by his neck. He tried to get a look at the figure that emerged from the darkness.

"Hun." He managed to whisper

"I've waited a long time for you to get back." Pain blazed through his stomach as something was plunged deep through old scar tissue. Hun ripped out the blade and threw him through the window of Leonardo's school.

Glass shattered around him as his shell slammed into a metal support beam. Students screamed around him as he tried to stand.

Leonardo ran over to him. "Raph are you alright, what's going on?"

"Yeah I'm fine Leo." He said as he pulled his black trench coat closed so Leonardo wouldn't see the wound. "We have company." He said grimly as an army of 100 Purple Dragons stormed the building.

"Mikey help get the students to safety, those who want to stay and fight, stay, those who need to go, go." But all of Leonardo's students stayed. Only a few were human, and most had learned how to fight on the streets, of whatever 'Underground' world they inhabited. The Purple Dragons were no better than they had been in the past. A few Werewolves in wolf form circled a few Dragons, while the vampire cut her way through a great swath of them.

"Turtles!" Hun yelled. "How I have dreamed of this moment. All four back together again. All four of you can share the same grave." He screamed as more of the Purple Dragons charged.

"Nice welcome back hey Raph?" Michelangelo asked him as he kicked a Dragon trying to sneak up behind him. Raphael looked at Michelangelo in shock. There was a hardness and a bitterness that Raphael never thought to see on Michelangelo's face. None of his brothers were wearing their masks anymore.

"Yeah, real nice of Hun to roll out the welcome wagon." He growled. He could feel his blood running down his legs. Pain burned and rolled through him. Spots began to dance before his eyes. He shook his head trying to clear it. He focused on ridding Leonardo's school of Purple Dragons. The girl who was interested in Leonardo was doing well. She was a human with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a coffee and cream complexion.

Raphael's eyes sought out Donatello through the chaos.

A Purple Dragon was going to get the drop on him. He managed to make his body move as he hit the Purple Dragon with a kick to the stomach.

He looked in shock at his brother. He was thinner, more drawn and when he moved he could see the lines of scars that worked their way up what he could see of Donatello's exposed arms.

"Donny." Raphael managed to choke out.

Brown eyes that held no emotion looked back at him. "Still alive Raph?" Donatello sneered at him. "You're not doing a very good job at getting yourself killed are you? If you were braver maybe you would have just taken your own life instead of being a coward and trying to get someone else to do it for you." Donatello said to him as his bo hit a Purple Dragon in the face.

Raphael hit another Purple Dragon. Moving away from Donatello. His vision was starting to go black. He struggled against it.

When Hun finally called retreat he stood looking back at them a smug smile on his face. "You think you have won, but at least I managed to get one of you." He walked out with the rest of the retreating Dragons.

"What do you think he's talking about?" Michelangelo asked no one in particular.

Leonardo shook his head. Raphael felt confused because he was sure he had just been standing and now it felt like he was on the floor.

"Raph!" Leonardo said as he pulled him up into his lap. "Donny!" Leonardo yelled as Donatello came running.

Donatello opened up his trench coat and pulled up his shirt. "How bad is it Donny?" Leonardo asked him.

Donatello looked at his wounds in shock. "I didn't..." He said as he paled. Looking at Leonardo his eyes held regret and guilt.

"Donny, I never wanted to die." Raphael choked out. "She risked everything to protect us, to save us, and just because she died, it doesn't mean she's gone." He said to his brother.

Raphael felt as if his body was growing colder. Donatello closed his eyes and shook his head. "So that's why I needed to come back Leo, to clean up your mess, and save your ass." Raphael said to Leonardo. He winced, but suddenly found that the pain was beginning to go away. "Yeah Raph, I guess you did." Leonardo choked out.

"I've missed you guys." He whispered, "Sorry I..."

Leonardo shook his head. Michelangelo and Donatello were looking at him with misery filled eyes. "No sorry's Raph." Michelangelo whispered.

Darkness was pulling him down. "I'll find Her Leo." He whispered as darkness claimed him.

Raphael looked around him and found everything to be washed out. He stared down at his body that was clutched in Leonardo's arms. "I'm sorry Leo, Donny, Mikey. I really screwed things up." He whispered. He glanced over his shoulder as something black swept over him like an all consuming darkness and he knew nothing else.

* * *

Leonardo looked at his brother in his arms and felt grief overwhelm him. He stood up as the need for revenge burned through him. Melanie came up to him and looked at him with sadness. He took out his cell and contacted the Guardians. If Raphael had been working for the Utroms they would need to know that Raphael was gone, and the Utroms could help them with The Purple Dragons. _Raphael was gone, so the Purple Dragons were going to suffer the same fate_. Leonardo thought angrily to himself.

"Leo," Melanie said softly. "Please don't do this. I know you are hurting, but revenge is never the answer."

Leonardo looked at the remains of his school. "I know, but sometimes it's all you have left. Take care of Raph."

Leonardo led his brothers against Hun. A few of the Utrom Guardians helped them. Hun was not expecting an attack so soon after the devastating loss of their brother. Hun didn't survive the attack, most of the Purple Dragons retreated. Leonardo knew that without Hun the Purple Dragons would be destroyed by another street gang soon enough if they attempted to reform.

* * *

Two weeks after Raphael's death Leonardo stood on the roof of Belvedere Castle. He was looking at the pictures that he had carried with him since She had died. The two blood stained photos that Raphael had carried with him had been buried with him along with her bow in its scabbard form. They had buried him beneath the floor of the old lair. The place had already been a tomb of memories, now it was actually a tomb. Leonardo had taken the photo album with him. It was the only record of Raphael and Her. They had no pictures of themselves anywhere. Leonardo had decided that it was time to stop ignoring the memories, and enjoy them for what they had been.

Hun's death had left him feeling empty and restless. It had not cured his grief, and it didn't make him feel any better. Another street gang was going to come along and fill the crime vacuum left by the Purple Dragons and the cycle would begin again.

Donatello and Michelangelo seemed to be getting better, or at least, they were talking to him again, which was a start. They were all still devastated by the loss of Raphael, but knowing that Raphael hadn't been trying to get himself killed had acted like a balm on their grieving souls.

He felt Melanie come up behind him. "I thought the worst of him." He said, voice emotionless. "I had thought that after She died that Raph had just snapped. That he had this death wish and was going to throw himself into any situation that would grant his wish. And here he was fighting the good fight, helping people, training, learning, trying to make the world a better place for us." He closed his eyes.

Melanie was silent. "Is that her?" She finally asked.

Leonardo looked down at the photographs forgotten in his hands. He let her look at them.

"She was beautiful." She said. He didn't need to look at the pictures to know what she was seeing. They had been ingrained into his memory. He carried with him the photo of Her and him dancing, the other was a picture of their final fight. She was spread along his body, her arm flush with his, in the act of grabbing his Katana from his grasp. He looked angry in the photo, he looked more than angry, he was full of jealousy and rage and hurt and if you looked past all of that you could just make out the love. Her expression was serene, eyes half closed, his trench coat swirling around her.

"You loved her a lot didn't you Leo?" She asked.

Leonardo closed his eyes in pain. "More than anything." He said as the wind whipped through his trench coat. Sometimes, when the wind blew just right he could still smell Her scent on his coat.

"It's kinda hard to compete with a goddess. Everyone after that is really just a step down." She said quietly, as she looked at the final picture. He had just pulled this one from the album. It was the one that had hurt his heart the most. The final picture of the album. Her looking back at them as she went to her death. "Even harder to compete against someone who sacrificed their life for you."

With Raphael gone, somehow it was as if his heart had been ripped open anew. But now instead of one piece missing it had two.

"But Leo, I love you, and only you. She was in love with you and your brothers, all of them, she wanted you to share!" She stopped talking as if realizing she had said the wrong thing. He looked at her.

She sighed and looked out over the lake. "Do you think he will find her?" She asked finally.

"Raph will tear apart Heaven and Hell looking for her." He said with a slight smile.


End file.
